Start-up company RiDERgy was born out of its founders’ vision of clean mobility driven by renewable energy. “Electric vehicles are becoming increasingly common, and many companies are looking to electrify their fleets and cut the costs of running them,” says founder and CEO Claudio Geyken. “At the same time, on the system level, there is a great need to transition to renewable energies and find ways of overcoming the volatility of their availability.”
Optimised electric vehicle charging
RiDERgy operates at the intersection between these two challenges. The company helps businesses establish a roadmap for electrifying their vehicle fleets and set up their charging infrastructure to make the transition to e-fleets as easy, reliable and cost efficient as possible. Its electrical vehicle charging app produces optimal charging schedules based on algorithms and data, taking into account energy and grid price optimisation. Without this energy management software, fleets risk not being able to have recharged vehicles to run their operations on a daily basis.
Electric vehicles are becoming increasingly common, and many companies are looking to electrify their fleets and cut the costs of running them.
“Electric vehicle charging becomes a challenge due to the limited grid capacities and the fluctuation in e-prising during the day,” explains Joost Ortjens, Head of International Business Development – Automotive at Luxinnovation who supported RiDERgy on their way to incorporating in Luxembourg. “The upside for fleet managers is that they can earn good money with smart charging by using the inexpensive hours at night and not charging for more than the scheduled trajectories of the next day. Not every vehicle needs to be 100% charged every morning. RiDERgy is turning electric vehicle charging into a science.”
RiDERgy’s solution could also help solve the volatility of renewable energy by providing the intelligence to decide when to charge and discharge the batteries of currently unused electrical vehicles, as a means of contributing to a more stable electric grid.
Small-scale testbed for a large-scale market
From its base in Germany, RiDERrgy put Luxembourg on its radar at a very early stage. “The Luxembourg government is pushing the energy transition, and is supportive to start-ups like us that are focusing on the energy transition in mobility,” Mr Geyken points out. “We have decided to make Luxembourg our commercial centre, and hope to be able to quickly push the energy transition here forward.”
With its multilingual workforce including people from all over the world, Luxembourg is also a very good base for expanding globally.
Luxembourg appeals with its close-knit and multicultural business ecosystem. “Our initial focus is on the German-speaking world, but we think that it is easier to kick off our business in a smaller country where people know each other well and distances are shorter. However, with its multilingual workforce including people from all over the world, Luxembourg is also a very good base for expanding globally.”
Another reason why Ridergy came to Luxembourg was the start-up acceleration programme Fit 4 Start that the company joined in 2021. In addition to coaching and seed-funding, the Fit 4 Start team provided Ridergy with useful introductions to sustainable energy players and companies with electric vehicle fleets. “We have also received very helpful support from national innovation agency Luxinnovation and the Luxembourg-City Incubator where our office is located,” says Mr Geyken. “I can see that there is a lot of willingness to support us further.”
Electric vehicle charging optimisation
RiDERgy’s offering is already available on the market, and Mr Ortjens sees a good fit for the Luxembourg ecosystem. “I’m confident that RiDERgy will accelerate smart charging with the support of Luxembourg-based partners in leasing and fleet management,” he says.
The company’s initial focus is on smaller companies that need help to optimise the charging of their electric vehicles. “However, our long-term ambition is to be a world-wide company,” Mr Geyken underlines. “We will continue to address fleets directly, but will also need key partnerships with electric utilities, leasing companies and charging solution providers.” With an increasing number of prospects across the EU as well as in Norway and the UK, he is confident about the future. “Just the other day, people reached out to me from Singapore. The interest in our solution is definitely there.”
Photo credits: Luxinnovation/Eric Devillet, RiDERgy