Octopus Energy Group’s technology arm, Kraken Technologies, has announced the appointment of Amir Orad as its first chief executive. Mr. Orad, who previously ran NICE Actimize, a US-listed provider of enterprise software to global banks and Fortune 500 companies, will begin his new role this week.
Kraken Technologies is a wholly owned subsidiary of Octopus Energy Group, which recently achieved a valuation of over £7 billion after a secondary share sale. The company has undergone significant growth in recent years, becoming the UK’s second-largest domestic energy supplier behind Centrica’s British Gas.
With Mr. Orad’s appointment, Octopus Energy Group is signaling its ambitions for Kraken Technologies as it begins to operate with greater independence from its sister company. The group’s shareholder base has also undergone changes, with the arrival of Lightrock, chaired by Liechtenstein royal Prince Max Von Liechtenstein, and Generation Investment Management, chaired by former US vice president Al Gore.
Kraken Technologies provides an operating system for companies in the energy, water, and telecoms industries. Its platform is licensed to Octopus Energy’s rivals EON and EDF Energy in the UK, as well as the water company Severn Trent and broadband provider Cuckoo. The company also serves clients overseas, including Origin Energy in Australia, Japan’s Tokyo Gas, and Plentitude in countries such as France and Greece. It is currently in talks to secure several major contracts in the near future.
Kraken Technologies is contracted to serve over 54 million customer accounts globally, and has a target of reaching 100 million by 2027. The company connects all parts of the energy system, including customer billing, flexible management of renewable generation, and energy devices such as heat pumps and electric vehicle batteries. It also enables the use of smart grids, allowing individuals to utilize more renewable energy when it is in abundance.
Kraken Technologies has seen significant growth since its establishment just nine years ago, thanks in part to its founder and chief executive, Greg Jackson. Mr. Jackson has been able to expand the company’s scale through strategic acquisitions, including Bulb Energy, which collapsed into temporary government ownership in 2021. More recently, Octopus Energy Group acquired Shell’s household energy arm in the UK, adding hundreds of thousands of customers to its portfolio.
Mr. Jackson holds a personal stake in Octopus Energy Group, and its other major institutional shareholders include the Canadian pension fund CPPIB. Octopus Energy Group declined to comment on Mr. Orad’s appointment.
