Leap Secures Strategic Funding From Japan Energy Fund, Positioning Company For International Expansion

December 02, 2021 at 08:00 AM EST

Company also adds advisor David Brewster, co-founder of EnerNOC

Leap, the leading energy market access provider, announced this week it has secured strategic funding from the Japan Energy Fund (JEF), a decarbonized tech fund backed by ENECHANGE Ltd., positioning the company for potential entry into the Japanese market. The company also announced today the addition of David Brewster, co-founder of EnerNOC and sustainability-focused entrepreneur and investor, to its board of advisors.

Japan’s unique confluence of favorable market conditions, along with aggressive renewable energy mandates, have led to the country’s exponential growth of distributed energy capacity — and with it, enormous opportunities for generating greater value out of grid-connected assets.

“As Japan’s electricity sector undergoes further deregulation, we’re seeing a tremendous amount of demand for solutions to generate greater value through energy markets,” said Leap CEO Thomas Folker. “The fresh funding and strategic relationship with JEF puts us in a position to extend market access and services to providers of distributed assets in Japan. On top of that exciting opportunity for Leap, we are thrilled to welcome David, an energy veteran with extensive experience scaling energy market access solutions, to the Leap board of advisors.”

“Leap’s comprehensive solution offers potential partners in Japan the opportunity to easily add yet-unclaimed value to their distributed assets, helping pave the way for further decarbonization, digitalization, and decentralization,” said Yohei Kiguchi, Co-founder and CEO of JEF and ENECHANGE Ltd. “We’re thrilled to be investing in a solution provider as innovative as Leap, and look forward to continued collaboration and exploring opportunities to implement Leap’s solution in Japan.”

The company’s addition of David Brewster comes as a further indication of Leap’s growth and readiness for new markets. Brewster co-founded and scaled EnerNOC into the largest demand response provider in the world. The public company grew to approximately 1,500 employees and $500 million in revenue, before being acquired by Enel Group in 2017. During that time, Brewster led EnerNOC’s launch in wholesale markets around the world, including Japan where he helped shape the development of the Japanese demand response market. As Leap’s advisor, Brewster brings deep expertise in launching and scaling market-based clean energy solutions.

“Leap provides a valuable solution for all distributed energy resource owners and operators by making energy market access easy,” said David Brewster. “I’m excited to support Leap’s growth and facilitate energy innovation as a result.”

About Leap

Leap is the leading global platform for generating new value from grid-connected resources and devices through integration with energy markets. Leap does all of the heavy lifting, seamlessly connecting technology partners to high-value revenue streams and providing a simplified, automated access point for market participation with batteries, electric vehicle charging, smart thermostats, HVAC systems, industrial facilities, and other flexible assets. By making it easy for new distributed resources to participate in energy markets, Leap lays the groundwork for virtual power plants (VPP). Leap empowers its partners to provide resilient, zero-carbon capacity to the grid while strengthening engagement with their customers through new value streams. Leap is a privately held company with offices in San Francisco and the Netherlands.

About Japan Energy Fund

Backed by prominent Japanese companies, the Japanese Energy Fund aims to build a sustainable society through investment in innovative international companies with technologies related to decarbonisation. There are two main axes in the Fund’s initiative: JEF Renewables and JEF Ventures. The former invests in renewable energy businesses in emerging countries, and the latter invests in energy-based start-ups with advanced technologies in European and North American countries with advanced energy markets. Through these investments, the Fund aims to build a sustainable society focusing on five SDG goals.