What was the catalyst for starting your company?
Alp Technologies was founded from my passion to provide access to electricity to people across the developing world – driven by my own experience of being born in rural China without access to electric power, clean water or access to modern medical care.
Tell me about your business – what it does, what it aims to achieve, and who you are aiming to reach?
We have developed a pioneering smart, efficient battery system – called M-BRIC – which is one of the most economical systems to manufacture and maintain in the world.
M-BRIC is similar in function to Tesla’s Power Wall, but it is three times larger, more efficient, and significantly less expensive ($200/kWh vs $650/kWh). M-BRIC is also easily deployable and maintainable in the developing world.
Around the world, 2-3 billion people (including India, Indonesia, all of Africa) are still relying on diesel generators for electricity. We are on a mission to change this.
Explain your engagement with the InnovateUK KTN SIIP accelerator and why you applied?
Alp Technologies has been the recipient of more than 10 innovation funding grants from Innovate UK KTN over the past seven and we joined the Sustainable Investment Impact Programme (SIIP) to accelerate the commercialisation and scale-up phase of our product-developing journey.
Describe the working culture at your company
We work very hard but value a balanced and sustainable approach to building a business.
What has been your biggest challenge so far with your company, and how did you overcome it?
One of our biggest challenges has been marketing and promoting our technologies and projects.
How does your company answer an unmet need?
Globally, more than $100B is being spent solely on fuelling diesel generators to produce electricity for people in lower income countries (while the battery storage market is being diverted to electric vehicles for the wealthiest countries). By comparison, the market size for renewable battery storage in lower income countries is effectively zero.
What is in store for the future?
With help from the International Finance Corporation (IFC) and key strategic commercial partners, we recently broke ground on a facility with production capacity of over 4,000 units per year (more than 208 GWh of battery capacity annually), which will be fully ramped up over the next two years.
We are also working with the IFC on demo projects and early order books to deploy and showcase M-BRIC’s commercial and social impact potential.
What one piece of advice would you give other founders or future founders?
Be present and find satisfaction wherever you can in life.
Read ‘Six Thinking Hats’ and apply lateral thinking to your thought processes.
Respect your priorities and boundaries (take your job very seriously, but never too seriously).
James Kong is the founder of Alp Technologies.
The Sustainable Impact Investment Programmme (SIIP) is a three-month accelerator, specially designed for selected startups who have previously received funding from Innovate UK’s Sustainable Innovation Fund (SIF). The objective of the SIIP accelerator is to prepare both the business and founders of the winning startups with the knowledge, tools and investor connections to raise their next round of investment up to £5M through a confident proposition, materials, and communications.
SIIP is an initiative led and funded by Innovate UK KTN to support high growth impact-driven startups from the UK who were awarded grants from the Sustainable Innovation Fund to aid economic recovery after Covid. This programme is a collaborative effort by Innovate UK KTN and Growth Studio.
