BDO invests in energy scale-up tool Odot

A capital increase has seen the Belgian branch of consultancy firm BDO participate in the capital of Antwerp scale-up Odot, the fast-growing digital energy management platform that monitors and actively renegotiates the energy contracts of businesses. Together with Odot, BDO wants to help companies determine the most advantageous and sustainable energy strategy for the future. “The link with our AI tool aiGUST, which was launched in conjunction with industry peers, allows us to detect excessive energy bills and optimise them through Odot. Through energy accounting we can help businesses cut costs and pursue targeted sustainability”, CEO Peter Van Laer explains.

In recent years businesses have seen their energy bills soar, making the optimisation of gas and electricity contracts more pertinent but also more complicated than ever. The many changes in cost structure that have been implemented, the introduction of the capacity charge and the volatility and unpredictability of the energy market are contributing factors in this regard.
As a result, many businesses would benefit greatly from an energy manager like Odot. Since its establishment in 2017 by seasoned energy expert Chris Elbers, the digital platform for businesses has grown exponentially, saving its customers millions of euros in energy costs. 
The scale-up knows exactly how energy contracts are structured, where the hidden margins and risks are, what administrative costs are charged, how the link with wholesale prices is made and what the optimisation possibilities are. The platform not only enables companies to monitor everything themselves via a dashboard but it can also control smart charging stations, batteries and solar panel inverters and recently a peak consumption ‘alarm’ to avoid capacity charges was added.

The right energy strategy for more sustainability

This detailed knowledge of energy contracts and a proactive digital follow-up are the two aspects consultancy firm BDO considers a significant added value for its thousands of customers. “Manufacturing and multi-site companies in particular have every interest in a well-thought-out energy procurement strategy. Not just to curb the current costs but also to more accurately assess future energy costs and be able to spread the risks. This way unpleasant surprises such as in recent years can be avoided”, CEO Peter Van Laer continues. “We also want to unburden them and guide them through the growing complexity of energy supply and management, and assist them in the evolution towards more sustainable entrepreneurship and ESG reporting.  Indeed, going forward it will become increasingly important for companies to install a solid, affordable and sustainable energy supply that takes the energy transition into account. Thanks to Odot’s expertise our customers now benefit from even more effective advice regarding the integration of charging point infrastructure, solar panels or offshore wind farms.“

Clever comparisons thanks to AI

BDO aims to do this as proactively as possible with the aid of the AI algorithms of aiGUST, the fintech start-up it launched together with industry peers. “AiGUST harnesses anonymised accounting data from companies sourced from a number of Belgian accountants”, Peter Van Laer explains. “This unique tool and the artificial intelligence it uses make it easy for us to compare companies and make analyses and predictions on a host of parameters, one of which is energy. For instance, we can proactively check whether a company is paying too much for its energy compared to other companies in the same industry, firms of similar size, etc. This way we can pool our resources to determine the cause and subsequently organise their energy expenditures in a more efficient and sustainable way. In addition to our own expertise, an energy manager like Odot offers them a specialised, innovative solution.”

Internationalisation and growth

Odot CEO Chris Elbers is over the moon to have BDO on board. “From the initial contact with BDO there was a genuine connection, both in terms of human culture and digital mindset, as well as professionalism”, says founder and CEO Chris Elbers. “I am convinced that together, we can truly help businesses optimise their energy management.” 
That is why Odot harbours steep ambitions for the coming years in tandem with BDO. “We want to engage in energy accounting for our customers. Thanks to the professionalism and experience BDO brings to the mix, we can further accelerate our pronounced growth trajectory, continue to expand our digital solutions and multiply our client portfolio. In addition, an expansion beyond Belgian borders is also in the works”, Chris Elbers concludes.

 

About BDO Belgium
BDO Belgium is an internationally active consultancy organisation with a solid reputation in financial services (Audit & Assurance, Tax & Legal, Accounting & Reporting) and complementary, specialised advisory services to help clients achieve futureproof digital and sustainable growth (Advisory). BDO does this amongst others by coaching them in strategic exercises, digital transformation, process optimisation, change and sustainability trajectories, sustainable finance, financial advisory, mergers & acquisitions and risk management. The consultancy advises and assists a broad client base consisting of large international corporations, (family) SMEs and private persons. BDO implements a personal, hands-on, pragmatic and result-oriented approach tailored to client needs. Companies always have a single contact in the immediate vicinity of one of the branches. In Belgium BDO has more than 950 partners and employees across the country. BDO Belgium has 12 Belgian branches (Antwerp, Antwerp North, Brussels Airport, Brussel Centre, Ghent, Hasselt Prins-Bisschops, Hasselt Herkenrode, La Hulpe, Liège, Mouscron, Namur-Charleroi and Roeselare) and relies on a strong international network whose expert team of 110,000 partners and employees is active in 164 countries.

About aiGust
aiGust is a Belgian fintech company that is compiling Belgium’s largest financial data lake and running self-developed algorithms on it to formulate automatic recommendations and identify trends for accountants. Established by BDO Belgium, Van Havermaet and Vandelanotte, the tech start-up combines data from all possible accounting software packages as well as other sources such as salary data, detailed sales figures, energy consumption or customer data. Companies that purchase a software licence from aiGust join an ecosystem enabling them to use the power of all collected data to boost their own innovation capabilities based on the provided insights. aiGust is situated in Leuven and employs 10 people.

For more details: www.ai-gust.io

About Odot
Experts in energy contracts and energy trading, Odot supports and unburdens its clientele in the purchase and sale of energy. An 11-strong team optimises the energy costs of over 1,500 companies. They integrate the digital possibilities into their solutions and services, and provide full transparency on how the energy market works. They help project developers of large installations market the generated electricity with optimal results.

For more details: odot.be