When joining any Elevator Accelerator, whether it’s our Creative, Grey Matters or Academic programme, you will come across individuals who we call Agitators. But, what exactly is an Agitator?
This diverse group of experts are on hand to shake-up your thinking, to make you think outside of your business and to ask the hard-hitting questions potential business investors may ask. Think of it like being in the Dragons’ Den…without Peter Jones or Theo Paphitis breathing down your neck.
As our second Cohort reach the halfway mark of our Michelin Scotland Innovation Parc (MSIP) Sustainable Mobility and Decarbonisation Accelerator, we spoke with Timothy Chapman of Ecotricity, a key Agitator who have been on hand to support our both Cohorts who have been through the programme.
“Ecotricity is a profit for purpose company building renewable energy generation assets and creating a wide range of sustainability initiatives across multiple sectors.
“Within our company and alongside the power supply business, we are building a network of partnership to deliver Made to Measure energy services to customers. These include Net Zero Consultancy, Solar Generation, Visualisation and analytics, together with asset monitoring services.
“We were involved in the initial MSIP Sustainable Mobility and Decarbonisation Accelerator cohort to support the initiative and aims of MSIP, where our two turbines onsite are powering development by providing 100% renewable energy.
“As a business, we are deeply interested in innovation and developing networks of likeminded companies looking to genuinely facilitate sustainability, so we knew that this programme was aligned with our thinking. Plus, it is great to meet dynamic new people and contribute a few experiences and contacts to their cause (and hopefully supply them 100% renewable power as their businesses grow!).
“The Agitation process is about testing the ideas, processes and proposition of the participants getting them to open up and explain their goals and how they intend to achieve them. It is important to challenge assumptions and also to give both positive and negative feedback.
“We learn lots about great new technology and ideas, as well as building networks and taking a break from BAU to gain a wider perspective.
“Providing support to each Founder is something I thoroughly enjoy doing, educating the next pipeline of SMEs and entrepreneurs. We encourage them to focus on their customers not their product. Being innovators, their customers may not know they will need their product/service, so businesses need to plan how to engage them. Additionally, we ask them to consider how they might partner with others to leverage their proposition making sure to protect IP through robust NDAs and agreements.
“Finally, we encourage them to focus on those entities that might fund their development. What are their goals and objectives? Why would they be wrong to turn them down?
“We are all on a mission to help sustain the planet, COVID-19 has emphasised how we are all truly in the same boat, so think about how you can link yourself through this common goal to your customers, suppliers, investors, staff and partners.”
About Ecotricity
Ecotricity, Britain’s first Green Energy company, was founded in 1995 by Dale Vince who remains the company’s owner to this day.
Aside from Ecotricity, which generates and supplies over 190,000 businesses and homes across Britain with 100% renewable power, the group includes the world’s first vegan football club, Forest Green Rovers in the EFL, Little Green Devils which manufactures vegan food for schools and Ocado, The Electric Highway, a 300 site EV charging network, currently being upgraded with 350kWh superfast chargers, Sky Diamond, the world’s only sustainable diamond made entirely from carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. We also operate our own Virtual power plant which enables customers to trade the flexibility of their assets through our platform and extract value from their energy estates.
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