In an era of rising demand for sustainable e-mobility, Me Energy, a German hardware startup, is breaking new ground. Their flagship innovation, bioethanol-powered fast chargers, offers a revolutionary off-grid solution to meet the growing need for flexible, eco-friendly charging infrastructure. Recently emerging from insolvency, Me Energy is set to expand internationally, reshaping the future of e-mobility.
From Concept to Market: The Story of Me Energy
Founded by Alexander Sohl, Me Energy launched with the mission to address a critical bottleneck in e-mobility: insufficient grid capacity for fast charging. Sohl’s experiences at Bosch, including challenges with charging electric vehicles in remote areas, inspired the development of bioethanol-powered chargers that operate independently of traditional energy grids.
These chargers use renewable bioethanol to generate electricity on-site, enabling fast charging even in areas with weak grid infrastructure. Compact, container-like designs allow easy deployment and mobility, making them suitable for both urban and remote locations.
Innovation Amidst Adversity
2024 marked a challenging year for Me Energy as it filed for insolvency following a failed funding round. However, Sohl and his team successfully restructured the company, securing new investors and charting a sustainable growth path. Today, Me Energy is positioned for long-term success, focusing on doubling revenues annually and expanding into the US and Southeast Asian markets.
“This isn’t the end; it’s a new beginning,” says Sohl. With backing from a strategic investor, the company plans to scale its operations and make its innovative technology accessible globally.
How Bioethanol Fast Chargers Are Transforming E-Mobility
Key Benefits:
Off-Grid Flexibility: These chargers operate without a grid connection, enabling deployment in underserved areas.
Eco-Friendly Technology: Bioethanol, a renewable fuel, minimizes carbon emissions, aligning with ESG goals.
Cost-Effective Model: Businesses can lease chargers, avoiding the high upfront costs of traditional installations.
Customer Applications: Me Energy’s clients include major players like Mercedes-Benz and logistics companies that rely on the chargers for their fleet electrification.
The Video Podcast Will Go Live on Thursday, December 5th, 2024
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A Vision for Sustainability
At its core, Me Energy integrates sustainability into its business model. Each charger’s emissions are comparable to wind energy in efficiency, producing greener energy than solar panels in northern climates. For companies committed to ESG compliance, these chargers are an ideal solution to reduce carbon footprints without compromising operational efficiency.
Challenges in Heavy Regulation
Sohl emphasizes that working in regulated industries like energy requires resilience and strategy. By designing their chargers to bypass construction permits, Me Energy has turned regulatory challenges into competitive advantages, enabling rapid deployment and scalability.
Lessons for Entrepreneurs
Reflecting on his journey, Sohl underscores the importance of building a strong team, maintaining transparent relationships with investors, and staying focused on long-term goals. “Great ideas are essential, but execution with the right team makes the difference,” he advises.
The Road Ahead
With plans for international expansion and a growing roster of clients, Me Energy is poised to redefine e-mobility infrastructure. The company’s innovative approach addresses critical pain points in the transition to sustainable transportation, paving the way for widespread adoption of electric vehicles.
Sources:
Me Energy Official Website: https://me.energy
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Automated Transcript
Jörn 'Joe' Menninger | Founder and Editor in Chief | Startuprad.io [00:00:06]:
Welcome to Startuprad IO, your podcast and YouTube blog covering the German startup scene with news, interviews and live events. Hello and welcome everybody. This is Joe From Startup Rate IO, your startup podcast, YouTube blog and Internet radio station from Germany, Austria and Switch Switzerland, bringing you today Tada, another entrepreneur here who has a very, very interesting story to tell from the big city of Wildau. Am I right Alex?
Alexander Sohl | CEO and Founder me.energy [00:00:41]:
You're completely right, Joe.
Jörn 'Joe' Menninger | Founder and Editor in Chief | Startuprad.io [00:00:43]:
You guys have been located in Berlin. I've seen registered there 2019. How did you move out to Wildau?
Alexander Sohl | CEO and Founder me.energy [00:00:54]:
So whenever you do big hardware you need a lot of space and Berlin is a crowded, packed city and you wouldn't find that kind of location or workshop in the city center. Hence we had to move outside the city. And Brandenburg just has a lot of good places conveniently located and also cheaper rent, which is not something you should give us easily as a low liquidity startup.
Jörn 'Joe' Menninger | Founder and Editor in Chief | Startuprad.io [00:01:22]:
I see given the picture, most people will only listen to this as an audio podcast or listen to the radio station. But the people who are not seeing this, we may tell that you have like a very big warehouse in the background.
Alexander Sohl | CEO and Founder me.energy [00:01:41]:
Yes. So I'm sitting in one of our warehouses. We have two. This one is 1300 square meters and this is where we have partly storage but also the R and D facility. So we are developing our charges here. And this is also the space we need. We have forklift, we have a crane, we have doors that are eligible for trucks to come in and offload. So this is really something that you wouldn't expect from a regular startup, but rather from a big hardware producing company.
Jörn 'Joe' Menninger | Founder and Editor in Chief | Startuprad.io [00:02:15]:
A lot of toys for the good boys. 1200 square meter for our American audience, that's almost 13,000 square feet. Now we got the conversion out of the way, maybe I had a little help from the Internet. Alex. We may tell our audience that this is the first interview we are doing with the startup that at the time of the recording has been officially insolvent. But you guys have been rescued. It's already, as we say in Germany, in truck. So it's already a sealed deal.
Jörn 'Joe' Menninger | Founder and Editor in Chief | Startuprad.io [00:02:54]:
But we have to wait a little bit for the publication of this interview. Around two weeks until it becomes official. That will be an interesting part of the story. But let us first talk a little bit about you because you are pretty interesting person because as always we link your LinkedIn profile here. I've seen a lot of Shanghai in your CV pretty early on. How did this happen?
Alexander Sohl | CEO and Founder me.energy [00:03:22]:
So I was lucky enough to be born to a family that moved a lot internationally and also abroad to China. So I spent my high school years in Shanghai. And this is a time, or let's say at that age between 14 and 18 is something where you make a lot of memories and also where your personality gets shaped. And this is growing up internationally and seeing this dynamics of the Chinese market. Back in the day, this was something that shaped me and also had a left a pretty deep impression on what can be done if you have the will, if you have the means also to start something big. And you can dream big and your dreams may also come true. So this is something that Shanghai and China, that dynamic of the market really left in me.
Jörn 'Joe' Menninger | Founder and Editor in Chief | Startuprad.io [00:04:13]:
I'm wondering because we talked before about different experiences from being in China. Did you bring like any habits from China with you? For example, preferring tea over coffee or something? For me personally, it was that I really love hot pot. Fortunately, there is a restaurant here in Frankfurt.
Alexander Sohl | CEO and Founder me.energy [00:04:31]:
Yeah, hot pot. I mean the cuisine, definitely. I cook Chinese at home. This is something I still love. And I think something in business, a habit is I always take business cards with two hands. This is something I still do because that is a polite way in Asia to do so. Hand over and accepting business cards. This is what I still do.
Jörn 'Joe' Menninger | Founder and Editor in Chief | Startuprad.io [00:04:53]:
I see, I see, huh. So there is a lot of interesting stuff about you. We have been admitting to each other that we have. That we have the usual suspects in our cv. For example, I see working for Munich Re working for Big four consultancy, working at Bosch and then getting into an association as project manager and then getting more into renewable energy and to the founding of MI Energy here in January 2018. Can you take us through this journey, through this ride?
Alexander Sohl | CEO and Founder me.energy [00:05:38]:
Yeah, sure. So during my studies I was always eager to start something. And there's also a connection to China because one of the first ventures I did on my own was Fuyu Balbei, which translates to honey or let's say my small precious baby, sort of. This is something that I started on, which was an export for milk powder and baby products. So I levered my connection already even early in my study days, because I always wanted to be independent. I wanted to make my own money, not rely on my parents. This was a main driver also in my studies. And this was fairly successful.
Alexander Sohl | CEO and Founder me.energy [00:06:22]:
It was sort of from just a scandal that was back in the day that China had problems having with milk powder and a few. There was a scandal that pesticides were found and hence there was a market all of a sudden for European and American milk powder that was now demanded in China. So this is seized the opportunity and started this business, together with friends I still had in China. And this was the first, let's say, foot I sat into the entrepreneurial space. It was only me in the beginning. Then later on I hired two students. So it was nothing big, but still I could make a living. And it felt good to have to earn your own money and be independent in that sense at the same time.
Alexander Sohl | CEO and Founder me.energy [00:07:09]:
I mean, I'm a German, and Germans, especially your family, tend to be rather conservative. So they push you towards getting a real job. And real job in German, translated from German means, okay, go into a big company, have a secure job. And this is what especially my dad was always, let's say setting or having the path laid out for me. This is what you should do, son. So that's what I also tried. I mean, I was always okay. I thought, okay, I don't know everything by now, why not try? I'm still young.
Alexander Sohl | CEO and Founder me.energy [00:07:43]:
So I tried working at kpmg, one of the big fours. And I worked in M and A, which was an interesting time, also intense. Learned a lot. So really steep learning curve. But I figured out, okay, this is not something I could see myself doing for a long time. And so I stepped foot into another space. So tried out, okay, something completely different. And that was going into the automotive industry, working at Bosch.
Alexander Sohl | CEO and Founder me.energy [00:08:12]:
So this was, for me, something that was not motivated monetarily, but something that was also motivated in the sense that let's try out the big enterprise, let's try out a secure job. Let's try out shaping something bigger. Shaping something that is the transition to sustainable mobility. Because that was a time when E mobility was really in the cradle where Tesla had its first roadster, just released. BMW had his i3. So this was something that was also pushing me and said, okay, there is something new on the horizon coming. That's something where I see, okay, I could also. I can be part of this transition.
Alexander Sohl | CEO and Founder me.energy [00:08:50]:
And one of the major players in this transition is Bosch. It's the largest automotive supplier. So I had a good access to this, the company, and hence, okay, let's work in R and D at the forefront of development of this new technology. And so I did battery and fuel cell research at Bosch. This was a step which, I mean, the work was satisfying and also learning so much about this technology. However, being such a small wheel in such a large organization, such a large machinery, that was something that was frustrating to me. But having that access or having access to that technology can also. This sparks a lot of creative thinking because you're surrounded by a lot of Brilliant minds.
Alexander Sohl | CEO and Founder me.energy [00:09:35]:
You're surrounded with a lot of opportunities that just lie around on the floor in such a big organization and a lot of free time to do so to think about this. And this is also, let's say, the starting point where ME Energy, or the thinking about Me Energy also originated is at the time at Bosch, where I also had my various experiences with E Mobility and the technology behind.
Jörn 'Joe' Menninger | Founder and Editor in Chief | Startuprad.io [00:10:00]:
You've been saying great ideas lying around on the floor in big companies. I would be personally, if I would be an executive, very interested how to harvest those ideas. But that'll be a completely different recording here. Let's go a little bit to the company MI Energy with a very unique concept. Was there like a specific moment or challenge in your career that made you think you know what the world really needs? That bioethanol powered fast chargers. Can you tell? First we may tell the audience what your product is and then how, how you, how, how you got this spark.
Alexander Sohl | CEO and Founder me.energy [00:10:52]:
Okay, so what we develop at MI Energy, or what we developed and now we are having the market is off grid, fast charging stations. So a charging station that produces its own electricity from bioethanol, so a renewable, sustainable energy carrier that is liquid that can be sourced literally anywhere in the globe and that is always refilled into the stations. We always have the means, independent of where you are, independent of any infrastructure to fast charge any kind of vehicle. And this is especially used in areas where the power grid is not strong enough to support fast charging. Because fast charging is a real constraint on the grid. Just to give the audience a bit of an idea. So you can charge one Tesla or you can power a 20 story building. It's about the same amount of energy you use for this process.
Alexander Sohl | CEO and Founder me.energy [00:11:46]:
So if you then think about charging stations as 20 story buildings, you have a picture of how much the power grid has to handle in the future and what a charging park actually means. So this way or this is really why off grid charging is a puzzle piece for the transition to E Mobility, but I think will tap into that space later on. But having this picture in mind, there was really one eureka moment or one moment where I had this problem where I experienced the constraints of the power grid. And that was when I was working at Bosch. So this is also why great ideas lie around in large organizations, because people like me make experiences. You are out on a test drive with an electric car with little to no range and you approach a charging station and that charging station is currently turned off. Why? Because it was winter, the power grid was at its limit. And the first thing at peak power you turn off is charging stations.
Alexander Sohl | CEO and Founder me.energy [00:12:55]:
So I couldn't charge at this charging station when I needed to. It was winter, it was cold, and I had no other. I couldn't reach another charger. So it was 2016, which also says a lot about the development of E mobility back in the day. So there was little to no charges anywhere. And I had to go around in this small village in the Swabian Alps and ask for someone to give me his household plug so I can recharge my BMW. And this was. I rang on random doors, I talked to a lot of strangers that looked at me like an alien.
Alexander Sohl | CEO and Founder me.energy [00:13:33]:
So what are you and why are you ringing on my door, first of all? Second of all, why are you driving an electric car? I mean, Swabia is the heart of the automotive industry in Germany and it's all combustion. So this is why. This was an experience I had where that made me think about a lot why and how we can make this transition happen. As I said before, I was really passionate about this new development, the sustainable mobility. And this gave me another spin on this transition. So where are the bottlenecks? This is everything in the service. Always find this pain point. And this pain point was definitely the great infrastructure because that, that cannot sustain our charging needs in the future because we want to have convenient mobility.
Alexander Sohl | CEO and Founder me.energy [00:14:25]:
We don't want to, like me and that at that time, stay for six, seven, eight hours at a wholesale plug to continue the journey. You want to have a sort of splash and dash with 10 minutes, 30 minutes. That's what we want to have in recharging as well. And the problem will not be the cars, will not be the hardware, but the problem will be the infrastructure behind which is the power grid. And this is what I realized in this, in this moment. And then as an engineer, well, you're prone to or programmed to find solutions to problems and not just see them as a pretty picture somewhere lying around. And if you have eight hours in a car to think about, then, well, that's the first starting point to find solutions. And that's.
Alexander Sohl | CEO and Founder me.energy [00:15:10]:
That led me eventually to bioethanol, powered off grid, fast chargers.
Jörn 'Joe' Menninger | Founder and Editor in Chief | Startuprad.io [00:15:17]:
You are an engineer by trade. How did your technical expertise shape your approach to building a startup? Did it give you an edge or did you feel like a student again, navigating the world of business?
Alexander Sohl | CEO and Founder me.energy [00:15:31]:
So, I mean, I think the most important skill you learn as an engineer is that you have a large problem and you can break down this large problem into small problems, solve this small problems and then set the puzzle back together to have the big problem solved independent of your train. However, I mean, knowing I'm a chemical engineer by training and knowing about energy flows, about physics in general, also about chemistry, battery chemistry, and all those chemical reactions that happen when you use bioethanols, that also gave us an edge in the beginning because the concept was built on these basic calculations. Later on, I focused more on business topics. So yes, as a startup founder, you tend to be a bit too naive, you tend to be a bit over conscious and then take on things, tackle things where you easily feel overwhelmed, where you easily feel like a student that has to navigate the business world, definitely. But this is also the beauty of it. And this is also because you grow out of these challenges that you have to navigate. And this is, I was lucky enough to navigate all of those challenges, including dooming insolvency over the past years and came out just fine. So I think on this it is worth trying.
Alexander Sohl | CEO and Founder me.energy [00:17:05]:
Definitely. And this is the steepest learning curve you can ever take is trying to be an entrepreneur.
Jörn 'Joe' Menninger | Founder and Editor in Chief | Startuprad.io [00:17:11]:
You already talked about the insolvency you had to file in summer of 2024 for insolvency. This must have been one of the most challenging days of your life. Can you take us back to the days and the weeks and months leading up to it? What was it like? What was the hardest part and what have you learned as a founder, as leader?
Alexander Sohl | CEO and Founder me.energy [00:17:39]:
So in general, I mean, this is the moment where your dreams are shattered, I guess, is what everybody thinks of instantly. However, when you, I mean, you come also from a lot of, I mean a lot of hope that you had a lot of work you put in, because we were in a financing round back then, we and the financing round due to, let's say, market climate, plus a few shareholder commitments that were, and honored in the end fell apart. And this is something that also on a personal level, had a lot of frustration coming, coming with this event. But let's say the quality one has as a good entrepreneur, I think is to never give up. And if you're, if you're lying in the dust, you stand up again and you fight again. And this is, and this is what I want to say to all of those founders out there. I mean, especially in Germany, this is considered as a failure in insolvency, but it's not. And it's also a chance because this gives you a chance to restructure the company.
Alexander Sohl | CEO and Founder me.energy [00:18:50]:
It gives you a chance to get access to new fundings, to new funds. You wouldn't Even consider that are out there just thinking about your regular startup investments. And this is what then happened. So I was lucky enough that one of our shareholders was well connected in this space and had the right consultants to help us with the process. And in the very first meeting I remember today, it is like they said, okay, this is not the end, this is the beginning. It's a great chance to save the company and save everything with it. You just have to work as hard as you did in the past, but now on a different path. And so this is what we did.
Alexander Sohl | CEO and Founder me.energy [00:19:39]:
And there are a lot of companies and funds that are specialized on complex slash distress situations. That's what it's called the terms and those are the companies we then approached. We approached MLA funds, we approached also, let's say regular operating businesses, our customers and partners and then also really rapidly had a feeling, okay, this is not the end. This is a new beginning because we saw light at the end of the tunnel because there was a lot of interest flowing in from something that, I mean from something that even in dire market conditions, there is a need for this technology that everybody immediately understood. So then instead of having this new financing round with a lot of multiples and a lot of startup investments, we found something that is now, let's say good for the long term and found a new shareholder that bought the company. And with this we are set for the future. We are on a long term growing path. It will not be triple or quadruple your revenues every year, but rather double.
Alexander Sohl | CEO and Founder me.energy [00:20:58]:
And this is fine. So this is, it's not a start. I mean it's still a startup approach sort of, but not full throttle, but rather look for a more long term solution. And this is also something that this situation, let's say sparked or triggered.
Jörn 'Joe' Menninger | Founder and Editor in Chief | Startuprad.io [00:21:17]:
So your recharging solution viewed by bioethanol is basically it looks from the outside like an overseas container. I assume you choose that dimension on purpose so it can be easily shipped where basically inside the bioethanol is processed into energy and outside you have a plug and you can thrust fast charge your car. Would. Would that be an adequate description?
Alexander Sohl | CEO and Founder me.energy [00:21:44]:
Yes. I mean from the front it looks like a charging station and then there is a big container around and this is really. So make space for the interior which is a tank, then the generator and then the hardware for fast charging. And yes, we designed it on purpose so it fits with parking space. At the same time it's easily shippable. So yes, well described.
Jörn 'Joe' Menninger | Founder and Editor in Chief | Startuprad.io [00:22:09]:
You already said me so it's a team effort. Me Energy phonic stories like that are usually packed with stuff like drama, breakthrough and coffee overdoses. Could you share a little bit, a few behind the scenes anecdotes from the very early days?
Alexander Sohl | CEO and Founder me.energy [00:22:28]:
Yes, I mean in the early days it's all about, I mean, trying to fill that idea with actual content. So. Because when you start, you usually have a small prototype, you don't have, you have a presentation. And then there was this big moment coming for us. We had the first funds raised and then we had a big display and an opening ceremony for one of our charges here, which were all the local politicians were invited and we had also the head of a local state here coming to the inauguration. And the problem is we worked all night for the past week. I mean there was 24, seven shifts, so to say, and this. But we weren't, we weren't finished because that day we expected cars and vehicles to charge.
Alexander Sohl | CEO and Founder me.energy [00:23:19]:
For example, a Mercedes truck we did not ever charge before. And we knew, okay, whenever we have an unknown vehicle there can be problems. So we tried everything, but we were not ready at the time of the presentation. So what we did was then we rented those vehicles, or let's say one vehicle the day before, which was an E truck, and then placed two software engineers inside. This E truck for the presentation. Had just a small data cable coming out into the charger to make sure an overview. If anything goes wrong, you can then let's say override it and do a manual mode for charging instead of having this automated one. This was then, funnily enough was also spotted by the local press, which thought it was hilarious that there are two people in the truck with a small desk, two monitors and a laptop, which was then the picture of the day.
Alexander Sohl | CEO and Founder me.energy [00:24:21]:
Some even didn't display the head of state, some only displayed the small. The two software engineers inside this truck with our charger in the back.
Jörn 'Joe' Menninger | Founder and Editor in Chief | Startuprad.io [00:24:31]:
You already said like, what was the other picture besides the two engineers, the.
Alexander Sohl | CEO and Founder me.energy [00:24:36]:
Other one was the head of state inauguring our charter.
Jörn 'Joe' Menninger | Founder and Editor in Chief | Startuprad.io [00:24:41]:
That was at the time and still is at the time of recording Olaf Scholz. So he was also visiting. I think that is pretty cool.
Alexander Sohl | CEO and Founder me.energy [00:24:50]:
I mean, this was two different events though. I mean it was a local head of state of Brandenburg, Olaf. When Olaf Scholz visited, everything was working well. I mean back then we were operational, everything was in the market. And I mean the E ARC trusses, so the Mercedes trucks, those are the ones we charge on a regular basis. So this was nothing to worry about when he visited. It was more of the security aspect surrounding his visit that were more challenging.
Jörn 'Joe' Menninger | Founder and Editor in Chief | Startuprad.io [00:25:17]:
I see, I see. Attended a few events, he was also present. And then it's a completely different game. You started in the E mobility space and that's of course no easy task. Did you ever have doubts about the feasibility of your ID in general?
Alexander Sohl | CEO and Founder me.energy [00:25:37]:
1 always has doubts. I think the question is whether you have the better arguments that those are only doubts and the solution is too good to fail. And this was for me always the case because I guess especially in the beginning or whenever you do fundraising, also throughout the years is you get a lot of rejections, you get a lot of no's. And this can spark doubt at the same time. Well, I was always convinced and I mean the customer feedback then later came and said, okay, this is a solution that is really needed. And if you have this customer feedback, if you have also the success in the market, this is something that makes it easier to overcome these doubts. Because yes, we're the only ones that ran in this direction. This is completely opposite to what everybody else was doing.
Alexander Sohl | CEO and Founder me.energy [00:26:29]:
Everybody else was doing great charging, then maybe battery buffered. Okay, we're saying, okay, this is still not enough. We will face those problems because the power demand is so high. And hence we said, okay, this solution is needed. And in the end, well, this success proves us right at least markets wise. We have so many large companies as customers we would never have imagined in the beginning, but companies like Mercedes or MAN and many, many more, they are relying on our charging solution every day.
Jörn 'Joe' Menninger | Founder and Editor in Chief | Startuprad.io [00:27:09]:
You already said you ran in a very different direction. Your offering was distinct. Fast charging without a grid connection. Could you explain how this model worked and who was your ideal customers? Because my understanding is basically rented out those containers, is that right?
Alexander Sohl | CEO and Founder me.energy [00:27:35]:
Partly, yes. So what comes with off grid is also a new means of financing. But let's take away a step back. So first of all, I mean, nobody's really buying a charging station. What they're buying is a fully charged car or a fully charged truck or bus. So this is basically what they want to achieve. So they want to have a service that is as convenient as possible to recharge their vehicle. And the classical way is, okay, you build your own charger that is then recharging this.
Alexander Sohl | CEO and Founder me.energy [00:28:08]:
And this has a lot of multi stakeholder processes, long permits you need and so forth. So what we did is say, okay, we need a shortcut for this. We need a shortcut that lowers your investment, that gives you a guaranteed business case and you have reliable costs and ideally you don't even have to invest. But you have recurring costs, monthly cost and nothing to down pay or any upfront payment. And this is what we do with off grid charging. So we have a charger here that is that it doesn't need any construction work at the site. So you can simply place a container and start charging three hours later. Plus you can finance it through leasing options or just simply rent it.
Alexander Sohl | CEO and Founder me.energy [00:28:55]:
And this is the game changer here because for the first time, this is charging as a service where you have a lot of, usually a lot of upfront investment. And this is not needed with our solution. So we provide here this one stop shop solution for charging as a service.
Jörn 'Joe' Menninger | Founder and Editor in Chief | Startuprad.io [00:29:15]:
With the takeover of your investor, will this model change in the future?
Alexander Sohl | CEO and Founder me.energy [00:29:21]:
No, this will definitely not change. The investor is looking forward to also grow this model and expand more internationally. So so far we were really focused on Germany and we had the first chargers installed in Poland. But we are looking forward to also an international expansion, especially with this new shareholder to the US and also some Southeast Asian markets which are desperately looking forward to more sustainable and reliable power production and fast charging.
Jörn 'Joe' Menninger | Founder and Editor in Chief | Startuprad.io [00:29:57]:
That is awesome. You always give me the cues. Sustainability and innovation were at the core of MI Energy. How did you balance the environmental aspect and the profitability?
Alexander Sohl | CEO and Founder me.energy [00:30:10]:
So we are in the market where not being sustainable is not an option. Because in general, what people look for when buying electric vehicles is a more sustainable solution. Also, a lot of companies are driven by ESG reporting by lowering their own carbon emissions, either by legislation or if one of their major customers demands, for example, carbon neutral transport. This is the case with a lot of OEMs in the automotive sector. They demand their logistics partners to go for carbon neutral transport so that the OEMs lower their emissions themselves. And so sustainability is really at the core of our business offering. And also to maybe give the audience one or two facts about sustainability here is that our chargers, they actually are less or they have less emissions per km or kilowatt hour than a solar panel. So we produce energy in Germany, in Northern Europe, and even in Poland, France and so forth.
Alexander Sohl | CEO and Founder me.energy [00:31:17]:
We produce it more sustainably than a solar panel. We are almost at a level of onshore wind and offshore wind is by far the best. But we are there. And this is what was also driving me and is still driving the team that with every charger we deliver, we contribute to a cleaner and greener and more sustainable future where you can still drive your car, where you can still get your food delivered and all the goods delivered by truck. Because I mean, otherwise continuing this fossil way is not an option for a lot of people, at least in my generation.
Jörn 'Joe' Menninger | Founder and Editor in Chief | Startuprad.io [00:32:00]:
We may add that ESG means environmental, social and government. It's shorthand for investing principles that prioritize those aspects. Governments, meaning corporate governance. That was something I just had to throw in. Joe, as we already discussed, your charges were visited by Chancellor Olaf Charles. That is quite an endorsement. Did this kind of recognition create a momentum for your business or was it just a symbolic boost?
Alexander Sohl | CEO and Founder me.energy [00:32:34]:
Let's say it sparked a lot of talks with existing and prospect customers. So in that sense, it was always so we were in the news, we had a lot of coverage. And this always sparks a lot of interest, either to warm up the conversation about follow up orders or if someone was at the brink of ordering, maybe then tilted towards the way that they are actually ordering instead of refusing the offer. And this is what was there, but I would say the biggest boost it gave here in confidence for the team. So having such a visit and also him, I mean, let's say I always said to the team, it doesn't really matter what you think of this person, but think of him as the most influential or the influencer in Germany where with the most reach you have. And he is visiting this company.
Jörn 'Joe' Menninger | Founder and Editor in Chief | Startuprad.io [00:33:37]:
I like this characterization. I love it.
Alexander Sohl | CEO and Founder me.energy [00:33:40]:
And this is. And everybody in the end was, I mean, and also this whole event coming with a lot of security. I mean, there were dogs checking this. They were, let's say they came to this facility for random checks twice before. A lot of police you have. We had to clean out everything which is sharp, everything which is metal, everything that can fall from the sky, from the ceiling. Everything had to be cleaned. So it was a huge event.
Alexander Sohl | CEO and Founder me.energy [00:34:08]:
But in the end it was worth it because everybody, after all felt, okay, we are on a good mission. What we do is valuable. And this is the small spark or this small additional push the team needs to continue to continue on. And I think this was the most valuable that came out of this visit. All the customer endorsement, all the conversations he had. And nice pictures. Yes. I mean, that's nice.
Alexander Sohl | CEO and Founder me.energy [00:34:36]:
I mean, my mom was really proud. Yes. With the pictures. But this is not what you do it for. What you do it for is really. Or what we did it in the end for was the team and the spirit that came out of it.
Jörn 'Joe' Menninger | Founder and Editor in Chief | Startuprad.io [00:34:50]:
It's an awesome bonus if your mom is proud of you. Yes.
Alexander Sohl | CEO and Founder me.energy [00:34:55]:
I mean, having, let's say satisfied or a proud parent is better than having those parents that were, let's say, that question always your career. Because I mean, this is also maybe what in the end, have also my dad make peace with me being an entrepreneur and having this, let's say, rather rollercoaster lifestyle than a regular 9 to 5 job at Bosch.
Jörn 'Joe' Menninger | Founder and Editor in Chief | Startuprad.io [00:35:21]:
Let's have a little break for our advertisers partners and we'll back in just 60 seconds. Okay, now we've talked a lot about you, your current company, your origins. Let's go a little bit into the future outlook. For me personally, the insolvency came as a surprise. As you said, some commitments from shareholders were not met. So you didn't have an option to do anything else than to file for insolvency. But if you could rewind time, what would you do differently to steer the company into onto a different course?
Alexander Sohl | CEO and Founder me.energy [00:36:05]:
So rewinding time, I mean, being a lot wiser now is sooner setting structures for scaling that don't require increasing cost that much. Translating into our terms is so we in the beginning delivered a lot of products for pilot projects, for example, where they were in the end rather costly to keep up. So if I would be wise, I was like, okay, do less, do that more focused and not increase your costs as fast. Coming from a time. And also when we did our last financing round was still the time of little to no interest rates, a lot of money in the market, and the only thing that mattered was growth. And so growth at all costs. And this mantra was also something that we had to listen to here because I mean, those were our shareholders after all. So it was growth at all costs.
Alexander Sohl | CEO and Founder me.energy [00:37:14]:
And then we had growth at all costs. But those costs were not sustainable. And then especially in heavy regulated markets like Germany, cutting those costs is something that at a certain point you cannot do anymore unless you do go for a full restructuring. And so this is one lesson I'll take. And the second one is choose your shareholders wisely. I mean, and even one day on the board, they will not support you at all costs, but rather you have to manage those relations. And this is something that can be really time intense. But this is also your role as a founder or as a CEO.
Alexander Sohl | CEO and Founder me.energy [00:37:56]:
And this is something what I can only recommend is keep your shareholders happy. Don't keep them happy with any fancy presentations, but rather keep them happy with honest conversations and regular conversations, even if things don't look good. And then just ask them for advice. Maybe it's good advice, maybe it's bad advice, but if they have the feeling they can help, they are more on board and more happy to help.
Jörn 'Joe' Menninger | Founder and Editor in Chief | Startuprad.io [00:38:21]:
Yes, always reminds me of two aspects. One of them is an article at TechCrunch that more investors have made startups fail than any market ever did. And the second one is that you should also what we discussed with different interview guests in different dimensions, different aspects here is you should always listen to your shareholders. Yes, you should manage the conversation because if you just go there guys, everything is shit. I don't know what to do. You can be very sure your shareholders will walk out and look for a party to buy your company because they are interested in keeping and increasing their investment. So as you said, they will not support you at any costs. Going a little bit further, what advice would you offer to entrepreneurs looking to innovate in industries with heavy regulatory or infrastructure challenges like energy?
Alexander Sohl | CEO and Founder me.energy [00:39:27]:
So in general for me, what still this or what also fueled this is real change also comes from hardware. I mean yes, software does a lot of good and it's needed in a lot of areas. It will increase efficiency a lot. Yes. But if you want to change big time, you have to go big, big, meaning hardware. And so this is a hard issue to tackle because it's so capital intense time to markets are long and hence you need a long breadth to withhold and actually get to the market and then also be successful in the market. So what kind of advice I would give those is well, don't forget what are you, why are you doing it or what are you doing it for? Because I mean you always have to have this vision because that will keep you going even if you get a lot of no's. Hardware infrastructure is not really something a sexy topic for most investors.
Alexander Sohl | CEO and Founder me.energy [00:40:31]:
Even if they say there are technology agnostic or whatever euphemism they use, hardware is not usually the case they find sexy. So I would say try institutional investors. This is something that usually helps, especially in the early days. State supported loans, state supported subsidies. This is something that you go for. I mean it's also heavily regulated, but it helps you not diluting too much in the early days and keep it as an attractive investment vehicle. And when it comes to say regulation, regulation in the beginning is a pain. Once you solved it, it's an advantage.
Alexander Sohl | CEO and Founder me.energy [00:41:15]:
So this is also something a lot of business models can come out from solving this legislation issue. For example, for us we have a mobile unit that is still a charging station. So we don't need any building permits. For example, we don't need to file for authorization at the local government to set up charging infrastructure. As long as we are on private ground, we can just place it there, which is a perfect use case, for example for rentals you have an event, you have trade fair, we're there for one week and we're gone afterwards without leaving a trace. So this is really an advantage because we designed this product to adhere to all these legislational hurdles that we can now use. So it's always a barrier legislation, but it can be also a market entry barrier for others. So you can take that as an advantage.
Jörn 'Joe' Menninger | Founder and Editor in Chief | Startuprad.io [00:42:14]:
That was already good advice. Finally we get to the last official question. If a young startup founder asks you what's more important, having a groundbreaking idea or building the right team, what would you say and why?
Alexander Sohl | CEO and Founder me.energy [00:42:32]:
I think most entrepreneurs would say the right team and also me because groundbreaking ideas exist a lot. 90% is execution and execution comes with the right people, the right team. So choose those that are willing to go or to find to go into battle with you at the same time, always are honest with you and they speak their mind. Because the last thing you can use in a startup is politics. You don't want to have anyone not speaking their mind or acting a certain way, not working towards the same goals because of some food feud they have with another party member or some form of deep down conflict. So this is something I would always advise is choose the right team. And usually a right team also finds the right idea that is a match for their skill set.
Jörn 'Joe' Menninger | Founder and Editor in Chief | Startuprad.io [00:43:33]:
That is good. And now the only inofficial question, you already said the team is very important. You doing a restart with a bigger investment in the background, you are looking to expand globally. Talking about the US and Asia, are you actually looking for talent?
Alexander Sohl | CEO and Founder me.energy [00:43:51]:
Yes, we're always looking for talent in a lot of areas since we're a hardware startup. I mean also those engineers out there which are not only software related. Feel free to join here. Electrical engineering, mechanical engineering is needed but also obviously software engineering and also we always look for business talents when it comes to sales, marketing. Feel free to apply. We have a lot of challenges ahead of us and there's a growth path laid out. I mean as I said, it's a more sustainable growth path, but this also needs a lot of new talent. So looking forward to your applications or just reach out for original coffee.
Alexander Sohl | CEO and Founder me.energy [00:44:36]:
Happy to talk to you guys.
Jörn 'Joe' Menninger | Founder and Editor in Chief | Startuprad.io [00:44:38]:
As always down here in the show notes. We will link your career website. Alex. Yes, thank you very much. Was a pleasure having you. What people from the outside cannot tell. We are talking now for almost an hour with 45 minutes of recording. Thank you very much.
Jörn 'Joe' Menninger | Founder and Editor in Chief | Startuprad.io [00:44:55]:
You have been a great guest in a very difficult situation.
Alexander Sohl | CEO and Founder me.energy [00:44:58]:
Thank you for having me. Joe. It was a pleasure to be here and hopefully one or two things or one or two experiences I shared leave a memory for your audience.
Jörn 'Joe' Menninger | Founder and Editor in Chief | Startuprad.io [00:45:09]:
Hey, share. That's all folks. Find more news streams, events and interviews@www.startuprad.IO. remember, sharing is caring. Sa.
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