Q Energy was started by Dr. Li Yao and Vijay Natarajan, with the objective of utilising the power of IoT and AI based technologies to solve the challenges facing the energy industry and accelerate renewable adoption. Li and Vijay have worked together for nearly 4 years in Sparta Digital, an IoT solutions company based in Manchester, with Li being an investor and CTO, and Vijay working as the marketing director. Though they built Sparta into a successful business, they wanted to create a focused product within the energy space, capitalizing on their experience and relationships in the UK, EU and Chinese markets.
Currently, in the UK only 45% of the electricity bill is made up of actual energy costs, the rest of it is made of various charges based on when you use the energy and government levies to keep the network in balance. This situation is set to get worse as the UK tries to meet decarbonisation targets through existing centralised grid infrastructure, along with the growth of renewables, electric vehicles and electric heating. This is a global challenge currently being addressed by countries such as the US, UK, Australia and others in Western Europe.