The technology arm of Octopus Energy, the utility that has become one of Britain’s most valuable private companies, has lured the former boss of a Nasdaq-listed company to become its first chief executive.
Sky News understands that Kraken Technologies, which is a wholly owned subsidiary of Octopus Energy Group, will this week appoint Amir Orad as chief executive.
Orad previously ran NICE Actimize, a US-listed enterprise software provider for global banks and Fortune 500 companies.
He was also executive chairman of Sisense, a data analytics provider.
His appointment at Kraken will underline the scale of Octopus Energy Group’s ambitions for the business, as it begins to operate with greater independence from its sister company.
Octopus Energy, which is now the UK’s second largest domestic energy supplier behind Centrica British Gasrecently crystallized a valuation of more than £7 billion following a secondary share sale.
Changes in the group’s shareholder base led to the arrival of Lightrock, which is chaired by the Royal Prince of Liechtenstein, Max Von Liechtenstein.
Generation Investment Management, chaired by former US Vice President Al Gore, is also a committed investor in the business.
Kraken provides an operating system for companies in the energy, water and telecommunications sectors, and has signed some of the world’s largest utilities as customers.
In the UK, its platform is licensed to Octopus Energy rivals EON and EDF Energy, as well as water company Severn Trent and broadband provider Cuckoo.
Overseas, Kraken serves Origin Energy in Australia, Tokyo Gas and Plentitude of Japan in countries such as France and Greece.
It is said to be preparing to sign a number of other major contracts in the near term.
In total, it is now contracted to serve more than 54 million customer accounts worldwide – more than halfway to its goal of 100 million by 2027.
Earlier this year, Gavin Patterson, former CEO of BT Group, was appointed chairman of Kraken, which connects all parts of the energy system, including customer billing and the flexible management of renewable generation and energy devices such as fuel pumps. heat and electric vehicle batteries. .
The deal also unlocks smart grids that allow people to use more renewable energy when there is an abundant supply of it.
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Octopus Energy’s relentless growth since its inception just nine years ago has made Greg Jackson, its founder and chief executive, one of Britain’s most influential business figures.
Jackson was able to bolster the company’s scale by making acquisitions such as Bulb Energy, which entered temporary government ownership in 2021.
More recently, it closed a deal to buy Shellhome energy arm in the UK, which has added hundreds of thousands of customers.
Jackson personally holds a stake in Octopus Energy Group, while his other large institutional shareholders include Canadian pension fund CPPIB.
Octopus Energy declined to comment.
This story originally appeared on News.sky.com read the full story
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