Among the many forward-thinking companies looking to make the world a cleaner and greener place, Hycube is at the forefront of energy innovation. Enabling its users to store energy from solar panels for later use in their homes and businesses, Hycube is successfully tackling one of the greatest hurdles facing renewable energy technology – and they’ve got global expansion plans.
We sat down with Founder Rainer Appold to get the details.
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What is Hycube’s vision?
Our vision is to become the leading provider of intelligent renewable power storage, management and distribution systems for businesses and consumers, globally.
What encouraged you to build the company?
I was already involved in solar projects for many years and began to see the subsidies that governments pay for solar energy reducing. I realised that soon, people would start to switch to using their own produced energy rather than selling it, and would need somewhere to store it for use at the time they need it.
What makes you personally passionate about the Hycube vision?
I love building businesses and seeing them grow, but when you can combine this with something that really helps contribute towards solving the biggest challenge of our time, then it really becomes meaningful and worthwhile for a number of reasons.
Was this the career path you had always envisioned taking and if not, why?
I started my first company in the restaurant industry at the age of 23. Over the years, I developed unique gastronomy concepts worldwide and made them successful. It has always been my passion to design and build something and then watch it grow. With the sale of the entire restaurant chain to a large British brewer, I invested into a solar company and my journey into the renewable energy business began.
Where do you see the most growth potential in the near future within your industry?
I see a gradual move away from the current system of energy providers to a more “decentralised” system where consumers start to produce more of their own energy and can even sell it to others when they don’t need it. This will require energy storage in most households but I believe that will become the norm in the next five to ten years.
What was one of the business’ most exciting successes so far?
We seem to be on track to get 1000 investors or more on Seedrs. This has been amazing and gives us a new group of people we can interact with and harness for the next stage of our growth.
What will be the greatest challenge going forward?
We see a huge amount of demand coming to us from many places. Staying focused and sticking to the plan will require discipline and detailed planning. We need to ensure we are not tempted by attractive projects which do not yield good returns at the expense of our core business.
What’s the most important thing you have learned from your customers/users?
Listen to all feedback and use it to constantly evolve and adapt to changes in the market and customer demand.
How would you describe your company culture?
Fun, ambitious, diverse, client centric, innovative.
What will the proceeds from this round allow you to achieve?
We have a mature, proven product that we now need to get into new markets. The money will allow us to grow our revenues by expanding into these new areas and also allow us to continue to innovate and create exciting new functionality. We can also buy components in bigger amounts and therefore reduce our costs.
Why are you excited to bring investors along on the journey?
New investors bring new ideas and new connections and opportunities. Some of our bigger investors have already made useful introductions and given valuable advice which we will take on board.
What gets you up in the morning?
My dog, Sam, who sits at the end of the bed every morning.
What’s one thing you’re still learning
That life and business are ongoing. You solve one issue and the next is around the corner, so have stamina and patience and enjoy the ride.
What’s the most valuable life hack you’ve learned so far?
Pinot Noir
To find out more, visit Hycube’s pitch now.
