Marketplace for purchasing energy resources

The client is a Polish company seeking to create a platform for energy suppliers and producers, enabling them to easily search for energy resources.

TIMELINE: 6 MONTHS
COUNTRY: POLAND

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A marketplace for purchasing energy resources - software development

About

The client is a Polish company seeking to create a platform for energy suppliers and producers, enabling them to easily search for energy resources.

Their goal was to simplify energy procurement, making it more convenient and effective for businesses.

Did you know?

Rinno was nominated to the final 20 startups in the Huawei Startup Challenge 4 in 2024.

Our Role and Involvement

The client’s goal was to develop a B2B platform with the intent to simplify the way users source energy, making it more convenient and effective for businesses to secure their energy needs.

They’ve identified a gap in the European, including Polish, market, where such a platform is currently lacking. By addressing this gap, they intend to foster the growth of the energy sector in Europe.

Results

The client’s B2B platform operates on a closed model, where potential users must submit applications for approval, involving the signing of NDAs and other agreements to gain access to the marketplace. The client has full administrative control over user access, with a manual process for adding new clients.

The platform allows organisations to create and manage accounts for multiple employees, and it incorporates a unique feature known as “sorting preferences,” enabling users to prioritise and assign weights to different offer parameters such as scoring, contract duration, price, and publication date. This empowers users to fine-tune their preferences for energy procurement.

The marketplace dashboard presents energy supply offers, categorised by type, delivery time, operational status, and contractual details known as PPA (Power Purchase Agreement). Users can respond to energy supply offers, which are then reviewed by energy providers who can initiate negotiations. Both sides have the ability to compare proposals, manipulate parameters on a graph, and find mutually beneficial terms.

The platform facilitates the assessment of financial benefits and risk profiles, considering factors like the consistency of energy supply and user requirements. Users can also upload and generate comparison charts using CSV files.

Once a favourable deal has been reached, users can enter into negotiations by triggering a term sheet that allows for further changes to contract terms previously viewed in the marketplace. At this stage, users can clarify the terms, and the other party has the opportunity to accept or reject the proposed adjustments. Users have the option to end negotiations at any time if they find the terms unsatisfactory.

The platform also streamlines document upload and preliminary negotiations, including the exchange of various documents such as bank guarantees and tripartite agreements. Once all terms, documents, and payment arrangements are aligned, users can proceed to the manual signing of the contract, as the platform currently lacks digital signature capabilities.

Furthermore, there is a feature in the platform dedicated to contract management. Once a contract is signed, users gain access to widgets that provide summaries of all their contracts. Those include the ability to track invoices within each contract, allowing users to monitor outstanding payments and receive notifications about upcoming payments.

The business result for the client was the creation of an advanced marketplace that significantly enhanced the efficiency and transparency of energy procurement processes, providing a seamless platform for contract negotiation and management.

The Process

Discovery & Design

We embarked on the project from the very beginning, starting with a preliminary analysis. The client initially supplied us with relatively superficial designs, created by a third party and lacking in-depth details. We then conducted a thorough analysis and assumed responsibility for designing the entire project, covering all essential aspects.

While the project’s general scope was mostly outlined, our task was to fine-tune specific details, meticulously craft the project’s design, and maximise the value delivered within the set budget. The discovery and design stages allowed us to refine the initial concept, clarify the project’s goals and prepare a solid basis for implementing the project.

Development

The development of the project was well-coordinated and its launch was scheduled for December 2023. The design and development phases ran in parallel, which allowed us to efficiently combine backend work with design concepts.

Key milestones included the initial discovery workshop, the launch of backend operations, and the final beta launch. Notably, our team was able to save a significant amount of time by using Talk.js, a ready-made chat solution that eliminated the need to build a chat system from scratch.