Ultragaz, the gas cylinder sales arm of Grupo Ultra, announced last Monday (12) the purchase of Stella Energia, a startup that connects solar energy generators to homes and small businesses.
It’s a kind of energy subscription service that can reduce your energy bill by about 15% on average. The company will pay BRL 63 million for Stella, in which it already invested through its venture capital arm.
The president of Ultragaz, Tabajara Bertelli, told Estadão that the acquisition is linked to the belief in the energy transition – which will certainly have an influence on the company’s business.
“For the past two years, we have been looking to the future and re-discussing the company’s expectations, which have always been very focused on LPG (liquefied petroleum gas). We are following the energy transition and studying where else the company could develop.”
The reading was that Stella could make a leap if it had access to Ultragaz customers, present throughout the country. The startup would now have a contingent of salespeople and have direct contact with potential customers.
In addition to serving 60,000 customers with bulk gas, made directly at the customer’s point, Ultragaz has 6,000 distributors for households.
Stella’s business is to give access to renewable energy even for those who don’t want to – or can’t – invest in solar panels. According to the company, the consumer “subscribes” to an amount of energy and Stella connects him to a generating plant. There is no investment or penalty for cancellation.
The potential of the partnership with Stella, according to the president of Ultragaz, was evident in the pilot project, which began with the investment made by the company in 2021. Of Stella’s 11,000 contracts, 1,500 are already from Ultragaz customers. “Now, we want to put this on a larger scale,” he said, without setting a goal.
According to the executive, the idea is to make Stella’s business operationally independent. After the necessary approvals, the startup will become a subsidiary of Ultragaz.
“Stella’s founders will stay ahead of the business with incentives to have a long-term plan for the business.”
The information is from the newspaper. The State of São Paulo.
Source: CNN Brasil
Joe Jameson, a technology journalist with over 2 years of experience, writes for top online news websites. Specializing in the field of technology, Joe provides insights into the latest advancements in the industry. Currently, he contributes to covering the world stock market.
