Best Startup
At Best Startup UK we track over 130,000 UK startups and over 500,000 people who hold key positions in these companies. We use this directory of startups to highlight top employees, founders and board members we think deserve more appreciation than they are currently getting.
This list showcases the top United Kingdom based CEO’ operating in the Clean Energy space. If you think a CEO’ is missing from this list, feel free to contact our editor on editor@beststartup.co.uk.
The individuals on this list have been included because of exceptional performance in one of the following categories:
- Innovation – Operating as a key part in an extremely innovative business or startup.
- Growth – Operating as a key figure in the growth and upscale of a market leading business or startup.
- Management – Showing exceptional management skills.
- Societal impact – Putting their business on the map for their positive societal or environmental impact.
Our Data – We source our data from OSINT (open source intelligence) and public directories such as Companies House UK, Crunchbase, SemRush and many more. The data from these sources should be treated with a degree of caution and verified yourself.
Joanna Hubbard
Co-Founder and CEO of Electron
Jo-Jo Hubbard is the co-founder and COO of Electron, one of the original energy tech firms to harness blockchain technology for transactive grid systems. She is a thought leader on the topic of digital energy and a frequent keynote speaker at energy and technology events. Her previous experience includes renewable energy investment banking, cleantech VC, and strategy consulting at McKinsey & Co. Jo-Jo sits on advisory boards for several UK utilities on digital transformation and community trading models and writes for international publications on these topics.
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About Electron: Electron is accelerating the energy industry’s transition to Net Zero by making granular, market-based interactions possible.
Lorenzo Simonelli
Founder, Chairman & CEO of Baker Hughes
Lorenzo Simonelli is President & CEO of GE Oil & Gas, an advanced technology equipment and services company that serves all segments of the oil and gas industry from extraction to transportation to end use. The business employs 43,000 people around the world. Before joining GE Oil & Gas, Lorenzo was President and CEO of GE Transportation, a global transportation leader in the rail, mining, marine and energy storage industries. During his five-year tenure, he expanded and diversified GE Transportation by focusing on advanced technology manufacturing, intelligent control systems, and a diverse approach to new propulsion solutions to solve the world’s toughest transportation challenges. Lorenzo has also served as CFO Americas for GE Consumer & Industrial, as well as General Manager, Product Management for GE Appliances, Lighting, Electrical Distribution and Motors. He joined GE’s Financial Management Program in 1994, where he worked on assignments in GE International, GE Shared Services, GE Oil & Gas and Consolidated Financial Insurance. Originally from Florence, Italy, Lorenzo is is a Business & Economics Graduate from Cardiff University in South Wales.
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About Baker Hughes: Baker Hughes is an energy technology company that provides solutions for energy and industrial customers worldwide.
Duncan Grierson
CEO and Founder of Clim8 Invest
Duncan Grierson is a Entrepreneur with VC experience in Paris, London, Silicon Valley & Chicago. He is a Founder CEO of 2 ventures backed by over £50m from likes of Goldman Sachs, Fidelity et al.
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About Clim8 Invest, Lirica, Moixa Energy Holdings: Clim8 Invest provides an app that allows individuals to invest in industries that work towards fighting climate change.
Axel Thiemann
Chief Executive Officer of Sonnedix
Axel Thiemann became CEO of Sonnedix in September 2018 after serving as a member of the senior leadership team and Board of Directors. Since joining Sonnedix in 2011, Axel has played a fundamental role in its evolution, initially based in London, as COO with responsibility for Asset Management, Finance, HR and E&C, and more recently based in Miami, overseeing M&A, integration and strategy during a four year period when the company experienced five-fold growth. Prior to joining Sonnedix, Axel spent seven years in banking and held various senior roles with Barclays Bank in London. Before this he was a consultant with McKinsey and Company in Cologne, Germany. Axel graduated as an Electrical Engineer from Hannover University in Germany and holds an MBA from IESE Business School, Spain. To Axel, the most special thing about Sonnedix is its team of bright and passionate people across four continents that have come together to create a sustainable future for the world.
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About Sonnedix: Sonnedix Solar is a global power producer dedicated to produce low-carbon solar energy for the future.
Inty Grønneberg
CEO and Founder of Ichthion
Inty is a co-founder of Ichthion and Ph.D. researcher at Imperial College London. He is a designer, maker, and entrepreneur interested in Innovation and Entrepreneurial Ecosystems (IEEs), with a special focus on clusters of hardware and tangible technologies. Inty has a strong industrial background, as a result of his work with several companies in South America, Asia and Europe since 2007. He has also been involved as a co-founder in other initiatives, such as EvoT, Fusehunt, PHD Network and SOSEcuador. In the industrial sector, he worked in several senior roles, such as Manufacturing Operations Manager, Senior Specialist Manufacturing Engineer, among others. He was certified instructor of process improvement techniques for Toyota Motor Corp. and General Motors.
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About Ichthion: Ichthion engaged in Development of cutting-edge technology to restore the ocean environment.
Sandra Sassow
Founder & CEO of SEaB Energy
Sandra Sassow is Founder & CEO at SEaB Energy.
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About SEaB Energy, SEAB Energy Inc, Unreasonable: SEaB Energy has patented a micro anaerobic digestion system for onsite and in-building conversion of organics to energy, water, & fertiliser
Antonio Cianci
Co-Founder & CEO of Airlite
Antonio Cianci is co-founder and CEO at Airlite® / AM Technology Ltd.
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About Airlite, Kauffman Fellows: Airlite is a Bozen, Italy-based company that produces natural high performance paints.
Terje Laugerud
CEO of Green Energy Group
Terje Laugerud is the CEO of Green Energy Group. Previously he was President and Chief Executive Officer of CIBER’s International Division from January 2003 until July 2011 following the acquisition of ECsoft Group plc. He was the CEO of ECsoft Group plc from 1994 to 2000, and a non-executive director until 2002. He over 20 years of experience in the information technology industry. Mr. Terje Laugerud joined the Board of Directors in March 2011.
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About Green Energy Group: Green Energy Group (GEG) is headquartered in London/ UK and was founded in 2008.
William Burton Blair Ainslie
Chief Executive Officer of Seajacks
Blair holds a BSc in Physical Geography from the University of London and has significant experience of the offshore industry. Workfox UK employed him from 1999 to 2006 as Business Manager, responsible for marketing, contracts and commercial and general management of the Seafox fleet. He has also been a Contracts Manager at Kvaerner Oil and Gas from 1995 to 1999 and Senior Quantity Surveyor at Babtie Group from 1986 to 1995.
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About Seajacks: Seajacks owns and operates self-propelled jack-up vessels that safely and efficiently install and maintain offshore wind farms worldwide.
Petar Besevic
CEO of Altroleum
Petar Besevic is the CEO of Worldwide Petrol.
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About Altroleum: Software for the energy transition
Tom Mason
Co-Founder and CEO of Bramble Energy
Tom has led the engineering and manufacturing development of the PCBFC since 2013. He was involved in the development of the PCBFC whilst working as a Postdoctoral Research Associate at UCL. With initial proof of concept shown, Tom was appointed as the technical lead of an InnovateUK funded manufacturing project (101979). As a co-founder of Bramble Energy Tom joined the company as a director and Chief Technology Officer when the company spun-out of the universities in late 2016 before moving to the role of CEO in September 2017. With close to 10 years of electrochemistry experience, Tom is the foremost authority on all things PCBFC. Tom’s appointment to the role of CEO brings a fresh approach to leading the Bramble Energy team.
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About Bramble Energy: Bramble Energy is an innovator energy technology company that designs and manufactures high-performance, low-cost, and fuel cell stack
Christine Boyle
CEO of Senergy Innovations
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About Senergy Innovations: Senergy Innovations is a smart solar thermal panels designer and manufacturer.
Siten Mandalia
CEO of Solaris Offgrid
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About Solaris Offgrid: Provide sustainable energy in low income communities.
Gilbert Lennox-King
CEO & Co-Founder of Demand Logic
Mike is a leading expert in building services engineering, and has worked in the field for over 20 years. He has designed and delivered controls systems for multi-million pound installations, including for major banks, covering business-critical systems. Mike leads all our engineering and energy efficiency work and provides consultancy support for clients.
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About Demand Logic: Demand Logic is an online energy efficiency system that analyzes data from building management systems.
