On the move: New CEOs announced at Bulb spin off and Kaluza

In our latest round-up of industry appointments, the company formed out of Bulb’s former customer platform has appointed two new chief executives, while Ovo’s energy software arm Kaluza has also hired a new chief. Elsewhere, water retailer Business Stream has made a non-executive appointment.

Zoa

Two new chief executives have been appointed to head the former customer platform which underpinned Bulb as part of a major restructure of the company.

Zoa, an energy management platform, has been created after Bulb’s technology assets were transferred from Bulb parent company Simple Energy. Zoa Technologies was registered on 9 March last year, according to Companies House.

The company employs the same team which designed the platform at Bulb, with initially around 100 people working for Zoa.

Sara Brooks and Tom Fraine take on the position of co-chief executives, having previously served as chief revenue officer and chief operating officer respectively.

Sara Brooks

Brooks’ previous roles include head of Europe at business expense company Pleo and as product marketing director at software developer Meltwater.

Fraine meanwhile has held senior leadership positions at a range of companies including Innocent Drinks, Workify and the Cabinet Office.

At Bulb he spent more than three years as its chief people officer.

They replace John Marshall, who had previously served as Bulb’s chief technology officer.

Tom Fraine

The revamped leadership team includes Crystal Hirschorn as chief technology officer, and Eloise Taysom as chief product officer. Andy Cox assumes the role of executive chairman, drawing on his experience as head of energy transition at global insurance firm Howden.

Speaking to Utility Week, Brooks and Fraine explained that following conversations with industry, it had been decided that Zoa should serve as a platform to help with home electrification as opposed to a customer service platform.

The new platform will connect all of a consumer’s electrified devices so they are managed through one app.

Furthermore, Zoa has already sold its services to its first customers – installers of low-carbon electrical devices – and conversations are ongoing to sell the proposition to energy retailers.

Fraine added: “We also realised that we didn’t need the whole team that we had had at Bulb to deliver that platform. It is narrower than the platform we were initially building. So we went through some really difficult conversations about the path forwards.

“Sara and I had to take the tough decision to reduce our team size by half. We’ve managed that in a way that I’m really proud of and we’ve still got really great relationships with all the team members who have moved on, we helped them find other great opportunities within the energy industry, because they’re super passionate about climate.”

Brooks said: “Electrification is the next problem for our industry to solve. We’re committed to working with energy suppliers and technology providers to create innovative solutions, which fundamentally transform the customers’ energy experience.

“With a team of 50 people committed to decarbonising homes, our message is that we are enterprise ready and can work with suppliers to quickly and effectively scale our electrification solutions to build stronger relationships with their customers.”

Kaluza

Ovo’s energy software arm Kaluza has appointed its former chief operating officer Melissa Gander as its new chief executive to accelerate its international expansion.

Gander joined as Kaluza’s COO in 2021 following her role as Ovo Group COO during its acquisition of SSE’s energy retail arm.

Melissa Gander

Part of Ovo’s 2009 launch team, Melissa led the company’s customer service operations.

She replaces Scott Neuman who is leaving after nearly three years at the helm.

During his tenure, Kaluza grew to a 450-strong global organisation, scaled to millions of customers, and established new hubs in key markets including the US and Australia.

Speaking of her new appointment, Gander said: “I’m thrilled to step into the role of Kaluza’s CEO as we accelerate a resilient and affordable energy transition.

“Responding to changing customer demands, managing energy volatility and innovating at pace are critical challenges for today’s energy companies.

“Kaluza is empowering retailers to thrive in the face of this new complexity with our sophisticated and flexible platform that drives progress towards a digitised, decarbonised future.”

Elsewhere Assia Iossifova has been appointed as Kaluza’s new VP of communications and marketing, having previously worked as marketing director at Ocado Group.

Iossifova has more than 15 years’ experience leading marketing for B2B software businesses.

Meanwhile Kevin Morris joins as VP of engineering after previously working in roles including VP of engineering at Medidata Solutions and chief technology officer at Osprey Flight Solutions.

Business Stream

Water retailer Business Stream has appointed Andrew Taylor as a non-executive director.

Taylor has more than 25 years’ experience in the technology, media and telecommunications sectors and currently holds several other non-executive positions including as an independent senior advisor to Oliver Wyman and as independent non-executive chairman of Nasstar and of Pelion.

Andrew Taylor

In addition, he has held several group CEO roles in both public and private companies, including at Gamma and Intec.

Speaking of his new role, Taylor said: “I’m delighted to be joining the board of Business Stream. The company has an ambitious growth strategy that’s supported by a strong commitment to its purpose-led vision. I’m looking forward to playing a role in contributing to their goals in the year ahead and beyond.”