A Birmingham Technology Start-Up has topped a year of encouraging growth, in a tough trading environment, with three new clients, a team promotion and five new hires.
Grid Edge will now be supporting the Energy and Bioproducts Research Institute (EBRI), the Bank of Montreal, and Birmingham Airport with their carbon reduction targets.
To support this growth, and other new customers soon to be announced, Grid Edge has hired five new employees.
Chelsey Jacobs, Raghav Rao Borra, Sanjy Uppal and Dr Violet Kovacheva have joined the team during the past few weeks. In addition, Dr Stephen Newhouse joins Grid Edge via a STEM Returners programme, supporting people back to work after a career break.
Grid Edge has also promoted long-serving employee Paul Iurea to Senior Data Scientist and is currently recruiting for a Business Development Executive.
Co-Founder and CEO Tom Anderson said: “We’ve worked hard to help building operators make significant cost and carbon savings before and during lockdown. Most organisations are looking to reach ambitious Net Zero targets over the next 10 years and embracing new technology and data will be needed to make the required changes in the built environment.”
“We’re launching two new products this year and to support a drive to scale the business, I’m very pleased to welcome the new employees to our growing team.”
Anderson added: “I am very proud of Paul’s promotion and hiring Steve via STEM Returners – we believe in investing in people and helping them push ahead to develop their careers. I’m looking forward to seeing where their talent and drive takes them in 2021.”
Natalie Desty, Director at STEM Returners said, “From the outset Grid Edge wanted to attract and recruit people differently. Being a start-up with exciting growth plans they decided to be genuinely accessible to all candidates. Adopting an inclusive recruitment process right from the start is a testament to their commitment to create a diverse and inclusive workforce and a culture where people have the support and space to thrive.”
Dr Stephen Newhouse, who has a PhD in Genetics and worked for 18 years as a Bioinformatician and Data Scientist in Translational Health and Life Science Research said, “I’ve joined Grid Edge for the chance to use my skills to drive forward innovative solutions to Climate Change and help make an impact on our health and wellbeing both nationally and globally.”
Grid Edge’s energy saving platform is powered by Artificial Intelligence and optimises energy use in commercial buildings. In a recent project, Kent County Council saved £30k and reduced its HVAC energy use by 60%.
Grid Edge AI has been designed to make older buildings more efficient and works with existing Building Management and monitoring systems. The software quickly learns patterns and behaviours from a range of internal and external data sets. New data and insights are then created to identify how money and carbon can be saved, whilst also improving the performance of the building.
Founded in 2017 by three friends and colleagues at Aston University, Grid Edge is backed by global investors including BP and Noe Group.