MOL Group Partners with a Leading European Innovation Accelerator

On 22 November, MOL Group has signed a partnership agreement with InnoEnergy during the PowerUp! competition in Budapest. InnoEnergy is the largest European sustainable energy innovation accelerator and a world-class alliance of research institutes, universities and top European players in the energy sector.

The cooperation supports MOL Group’s ambitions to become a regional source of innovation in the energy industry. Through the partnership with InnoEnergy, MOL will be able to benefit from capabilities and a good track record of the partner in working with startups, while getting closer to meeting its long-term strategic goals. The associated partner status will enable MOL Group to get a priority access to the extensive InnoEnergy network, as well as startups offering innovative products and services.

Zsolt Winkler, Head of Open Innovation Hub at MOL Group said “The 2030 Strategy announced a year ago set MOL Group on a challenging yet exciting path. Advancements in technology and new consumer habits have fundamentally changed the entire industry, and we see embracing an open innovation culture as the right response to these challenges. Following the call for innovative startups, which we recently announced, the partnership with InnoEnergy is one of the next steps supporting our strategic goals. The cooperation will help us turn into a vital part of the European innovation ecosystem, which is undoubtedly an essential part of our journey to become the first choice of customer on the move.”

In order to boost its outreach towards the startup community, MOL Group became the main sponsor of the third edition of PowerUp!, the biggest regional competition for energy startups. We took a crucial part in selecting the winners this year, as Group Strategy and Business Development Senior Vice President György Bacsa sat on the jury and evaluated the contestants.

The application was open for participants from 23 countries in CEE, the Baltics and parts of the Mediterranean, out of which 15 best startups were selected to take part in the Grand Final in Budapest. Winners of the PowerUp! competition are invited to join InnoEnergy’s program called Highway, which offers support worth €150k to the most promising sustainable energy startups, along with three prizes of up to €20k.

Winners of the PowerUp! startup competition:

1. HeatVentors (Hungary): Innovative thermal energy storage solution.
2. FLASC (Malta): Energy storage device that integrates into a floating offshore platform.
3. Via Alta (Czech Republic): New technology for the production of biofuel from biodegradable waste.

MOL Group as main sponsor, had the opportunity to give a wild card to a selected startup in the final, it was Mebius from Slovenia and develops new and more efficient hydrogen-based fuel cell system components.