Bold innovators shaping the industry

“Our role isn’t to build a solution for how the energy industry has operated but for how it must evolve, and turn disruption into growth.”

The words of Sanja Decla, Chief Marketing and Communications Officer at triPica, capture the essence of the CHARGE Energy Branding B2B Innovator of the Year finalists. These are leaders who refuse to design for yesterday. In a sector where the ground shifts daily, their response is not hesitation but acceleration. Innovation is their way of making uncertainty an opportunity.

Use your North Star to steady the course

For Nompumelelo Skosana, Manager, and Keneilwe Mohlala, Head of Operations at ED Platform, purpose is the constant when everything else moves. “Our North Star is always about building impact for the people and communities we’re in,” they explain. That clarity allows them to adapt, diversify and experiment without losing direction.

For these businesses, having a North Star is what separates meaningful adaptation from drift. Without it, innovation risks becoming noise; with it, a company can move forward with confidence, carrying its people and customers with it.

Just take Skeleton Tech as an example. The business grounds its decisions on three pillars: heavy R&D investment, focus on high-power niches such as data centers and mobility, and control of the full value chain. “This enables us to make consistent, aligned decisions, and to react fast to changes in market requirements,” says Jussi Pikkarainen, VP of Marketing at Skeleton Tech.

Scarlett Alvarez Uzcategui, Chief Stakeholder and Sustainability Officer at Zelestra, agrees that a North Star acts as an anchor that keeps the business focused, ultimately leading to growth. “Our purpose is making decarbonization a reality for our partners,” she says. This is delivered through three clear priorities: customer focus, concentration on six high-growth markets, and transformation into a multi-technology platform. The results speak loudly – Zelestra has grown from 1 GW to 6.5 GW of contracted projects in a single cycle, with agreements that will avoid more than 100 million tons of CO₂ over their lifetimes.

Build cultures that spark creativity

A North Star may set direction and act as an anchor for innovation, but culture is what makes it real. At Modulex, once part of the LEGO Group, the company inherited a tradition of imagination and invention. “Innovation is embedded into every aspect of our culture,” says Erik Sørensen, Sustainability and Global Partnerships Manager. That heritage has shaped a culture of curiosity and pride, fueling bold experimentation and reminding employees that innovation is not an occasional act but a way of thinking.

For Kevin Kushman, CEO of Electrada, a leading provider of electric fuel and charging infrastructure for public and commercial fleets, culture is built through trust. In a market defined by risk aversion, progress requires everyone to lean in. “Culturally, everybody has to pitch in to build this relationship of trust,” he says. Agility, positivity and curiosity are not corporate slogans. They are survival skills that allow the business to keep moving when headwinds rise.

ED Platform gives creativity structural weight as one of its cultural pillars. And at triPica, employees are encouraged to challenge assumptions and strip away complexity. Across all companies, the lesson is the same: innovation doesn’t just live in labs. It thrives in cultures that reward curiosity and give people the freedom to create. And when those cultures open outward, collaboration turns that spark into something much bigger.

Partner to multiply impact

Erik at Modulex is blunt: “Collaboration is key for driving innovation. As businesses, we can get stuck in our own worlds. To move the transition forward, you need different perspectives.”

Kevin points to the scale of the challenge. Even 5% of US commercial industrial vehicles switching to electric in the next five years, he notes, demands $35 billion in infrastructure investment. “There’s no way any one entity can conquer this all on their own.”

Partnerships, then, are not an exercise in branding – they are the only way to scale ideas fast enough to meet demand. And the most effective partnerships are those that create visible value for people, whether individual customers or entire communities.

Put people at the heart of innovation

Innovation proves itself in the impact it creates. At Electrada, this principle is expressed simply: “We show up when we engage with a customer,” says Kevin. That consistency has delivered near-perfect reliability scores and built trust in a market wary of change. Strong employee culture flows naturally into customer experience, proving that EX and CX are two sides of the same coin.

For triPica, relevance is won by stripping away complexity. “We have the technology, but how do we make it relevant for the customer?” asks Sanja. By turning complex energy data, tariffs, and flexibility schemes into clear, personalized energy offers, customers don’t just receive a utility bill, they actively take part in the energy transition rather than remaining passive bystanders.

Skeleton Tech takes the same principle further. Many of its solutions are co-developed with customers to fit their precise needs. “Old-school, catalogue-type sales is dying, replaced by bespoke developments,” Jussi explains. Backed by deep R&D and engineering expertise, this approach ensures innovation is never abstract but always tailored and tangible.

Zelestra, too, puts people at the heart of new product development. For them, being customer-centric is more strategy than philosophy. The spark for innovation here always starts with the customer need.

Innovation proves itself in the impact it creates. At Electrada, this principle is expressed simply: “We show up when we engage with a customer,” says Kevin. That consistency has delivered near-perfect reliability scores and built trust in a market wary of change. Strong employee culture flows naturally into customer experience, proving that EX and CX are two sides of the same coin.

Treat bold ideas as resilience

For Kevin, the link is obvious: “The more involved your team is in bold ideas and creative thinking, the more resilient a business you will have.” Boldness, in other words, is the surest path to strength.

Erik at Modulex agrees but stresses that boldness must be paired with value creation. Innovation that undermines stability is unsustainable; boldness must build, not break.

For Jussi, this is about meeting the accelerating pace of change head-on. “The speed of change in almost every industry is accelerating. Energy is the enabler; it’s the bold ideas that allow other technologies to advance.” Skeleton Tech’s differentiation, he adds, is refusing to hide behind generic green messaging. “Many companies lead with sustainability narratives. What sets us apart is that we deliver mission-critical power. Our message is different: it is critical, not just green.”

Scarlett agrees that boldness is about differentiation. “Delivering electrons isn’t enough. Customers expect more than just price and project timelines. They want innovative solutions, flexibility, transparency, partnership, and purpose.” Zelestra’s reset from a solar-pure developer to a multi-technology decarbonisation platform was a deliberate act of boldness to remain relevant. “Customer needs were at the center of our evolution,” she explains.

This conviction to take leaps is what defines bold resilience. “We’re not afraid to take big steps,” Jussi concludes. “It doesn’t mean we never fail, but we always get there, and then we keep going.”

What binds them all businesses together is the recognition that bold ideas are the only form of resilience that works.

The innovators’ lesson

In these companies, we see a blueprint for leading with innovation when the world refuses to sit still: vision that anchors, cultures that create, partnerships that multiply impact, people who carry it forward, and boldness that turns fragility into resilience.
Uncertainty is not an excuse for hesitation but a moment for conviction.

Or, as Kevin puts it: “Don’t sacrifice the bold ideas. They will pay dividends in the long run.”