The way the world creates and distributes energy is changing. In 2015 77% of the world’s new power generation installations were either wind or solar PV. These forms of energy are by their nature intermittent – the sun will never shine 24 hours a day. With the rise of these intermittent energy sources, the need to store the energy they create has also risen. Batteries are emerging as a popular choice to solve this problem, with some analysts predicting that by 2024 battery energy storage will reach a scale of 12.5 gigawatts and become an industry with $165 billion in annual revenue. The increase in electric vehicles has caused the average price of lithium-ion batteries to plummet in recent years with expectations of this trend continuing. Managing the energy stored in many, distributed batteries is difficult, but when done right has numerous benefits. This business plan outlines the way Energy Max will provide a software platform to manage battery energy storage.
Energy Max plans to sell its software directly to battery energy storage system manufacturers. The company will leverage its connections in Asia in order to focus on potential customers in China and Taiwan. By pursuing this strategy, the company can become a trusted partner to these manufacturers in helping them build a more complete solution to provide end-users. In return for providing the software, customers will be required to pay a one-time integration fee as well as a $15/kWh fee for batteries utilizing the software.
This business plans assumes the first year of operations will be spent both building the product and developing Energy Max’s pipeline of future customers. In Year 2 the company will have two customers, but deployment of batteries with the software platform will still be low due to the likely cautious nature of customers. Under a normal growth scenario, the company will grow to Year 5 when Energy Max will attract 18 customers and have its software on 1% of worldwide Li-ion energy storage installations. Following this plan will require $3.5 million of outside funding and positive net income after tax in Year 4.

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