Congratulations to the winners of this year’s challenge – Connected Response won the Judges’ Award and Tepeo was the Public Favourite.
The judges certainly had their work cut out as all the ideas were fantastic! Well done to all the finalists!
Pulse Innovation Challenge finalists
Energy as a Service to lower costs for renewable tech
Boxergy will offer customers ‘energy as a service’, lowering costs and making it easy for them to switch to greener technology. Their Hero product uses AI to build a smart platform that lets customers add to their existing renewables and connects them with others creating a virtual power plant that pays them to use energy.
Charge electric storage heating with renewable energy
Connected Response’s solution aims to transform the lives of households that have electric storage heating and hot water systems who commonly complain that they are too warm in the morning but cold in the evening. They do this by charging the systems with renewable energy, improving comfort and reducing bills – good for people and for the planet!
Turn electric water heaters into intelligent batteries
Plentify’s innovation, HotBot, transforms your electric water heater into an intelligent battery to slash your utility bills and reduce carbon emissions. HotBot automatically adjusts the heating schedule of your water heater to maximize the use of affordable renewable energy and lower time of use tariffs, while giving you full control of your water heater via its slick app!
Use electricity to create zero emission boilers
Tepeo are developing a zero emission boiler that uses electricity instead of gas or oil and stores it as heat ready for when it is needed, much like a battery. Their tech does the clever stuff to ensure it is charging at the cleanest, greenest and cheapest times of the day whilst supporting renewable generation.
Make electrical heaters carbon neutral
Themo are on a mission to make electrical heaters carbon neutral via their smart thermostat that knows exactly when there is a lot of solar and wind electricity in the grid and it will choose to optimise your home heating cycles to those time periods. By using the Themo thermostats your house will be warm, but your carbon footprint will be zero!
Thank you for your votes!
The public vote for your favourite idea is now closed, the winners of one of three £100 Amazon eGift vouchers will be notified.
EDF Pulse Innovation Challenge 2020 poll prize draw terms and conditions.
Why are we focusing on heat?
At EDF, our mission is to help Britain achieve Net Zero and heating is one of the UK’s biggest sources of carbon emissions. In June 2019, the UK Government committed to a Net Zero carbon emissions target across the economy by 2050 and decarbonising heat is key to achieving this. The Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) has recently set out proposals for the future of low carbon heat beyond 2021.
We want to explore what innovations are available now and collaborate with the best young companies innovating in this space and help them develop and grow, and help Britain achieve Net Zero.
Highlights from previous years
Highlights from the Pulse Innovation Challenge 2019
ev.energy won the 2019 Pulse Innovation Challenge by impressing the judges with their customer-focused solution giving EV owners greater control and visibility when charging their electric cars at home and on the go.
Powervault has been working with EDF since winning the challenge in 2018 with their simple, affordable and smart domestic energy storage system
The Howz home care kit, discovered during our first start-up challenge in 2016, supports people to live independently for longer through a system of connected sensors that allow friends and family to digitally “check-in” on the resident to see how they’re doing.
Benefits on offer to startups
Develop business opportunities
Mentorship and access to subject matter experts
Free office space at IDEALondon
£10k cash prize for the overall winner
Validate products, trial and test in live environments
Potential for EDF to invest in your business
Pulse Innovation Challenge in association with:
IDEALondon is an innovation centre in the heart of London’s Tech City run by EDF and UCL.
Capital Enterprise are London’s startup experts; connecting & energising a world-class entrepreneurship ecosystem.
Find out more about EDF
Our sustainability roadmap
We’re a responsible business and proud to be Britain's biggest generator of zero carbon electricity(1). But with size, age and experience, we believe we can do even more.
Find out what we're doing to help Britain achieve Net Zero.
Generating zero carbon electricity
Countries using renewable technologies, such as wind and solar, alongside low-carbon nuclear have successfully cut their emissions. We're committed to investing in them all.
We're investing in reliable low-carbon nuclear, alongside wind and solar power, to create a balanced energy mix and cut out polluting coal and gas.
Everyone’s welcome
At EDF, everyone’s welcome. It’s a powerful statement of our intent to make sure we’re about the people who work with us – a rich and unique mix of backgrounds and experiences that’s vital to shaping a strong and fresh-thinking organisation like ours.