Energy · Profile from Energy Research Companion

Octopus Energy

A London electricity and gas retailer founded in 2015 that treated the energy bill as a software problem. Octopus wrote its own customer, billing and device-control platform, Kraken, and used it to run customers at a lower cost per account than the incumbents. It survived the 2021–22 gas-price shock that bankrupted ~29 British suppliers, took over the collapsed Bulb (~1.7m customers at its peak, ~1.5m transferred) with UK government funding in December 2022, and became Britain's largest household electricity supplier by Ofgem's count at the end of 2023, then its largest household supplier overall in 2024 (Cornwall Insight, reported). It also licenses Kraken to rivals, among them E.ON UK, EDF UK, Origin in Australia, Tokyo Gas and, in the US, National Grid (6.5m customers in Massachusetts and New York, signed 21 May 2025). In December 2025 Kraken raised ~$1bn led by D1 Capital at an ~$8.65bn valuation (~£6.4bn), ahead of a demerger targeted for mid-2026 (reported). In the US, Octopus is still small as a retailer, with ~16,000 Texas customers at the end of 2024 (EIA data, reported). As a software vendor to American utilities it is much larger. Its story tests whether software can be the margin in a commodity retail business.

At a glance

Founded: 2015 (company incorporated Aug 2015, reported, verify), first customers 2016; founded by Greg Jackson with Stuart Jackson and James Eddison, incubated and funded by the fund manager Octopus Group (reported)
Headquarters: London, UK; US retail arm Octopus Energy US (Houston, Texas)
Ownership / structure: Private: Octopus Energy Group Ltd (OEGL). Shareholders include Octopus Group and its founders, Origin Energy (~20% bought in 2020, later ~23%, reported), Tokyo Gas (2021), Generation Investment Management (2021–23), CPP Investments (2023) and others. Dec 2023 raise of ~$800m at a reported ~$7.8bn valuation (reported, verify). Kraken Technologies separately: ~$1bn round at ~$8.65bn (Dec 2025); after demerger OEGL to keep ~13.7% and Origin to hold ~22.7% (Origin ASX filing, reported)
Leadership (2026): Greg Jackson (founder and CEO); Amir Orad (Kraken CEO, verify title and start date); Stuart Jackson and James Eddison (co-founders; Eddison associated with Kraken, verify current roles)
Businesses: Retail supply (UK, Texas, Germany, France, Italy, Spain, Japan, New Zealand, Australia via Origin's platform, others — verify current list); Kraken Technologies (software licensing); Octopus Energy Generation (renewables fund management, reported >£6bn of assets, verify); KrakenFlex (device flexibility, inside Kraken); heat pumps and EV services (Octopus Electroverse, Octopus EV)
Scale: UK ~22% share of household electricity accounts at end-2023 (Ofgem; British Gas 20.3%); ~23.7% of households overall by Jan 2025 (Cornwall Insight via Reuters, reported); ~10m retail customers worldwide (company, Apr 2026, reported); FY to Mar 2024 revenue ~£13bn and first group profit (reported); FY to Mar 2025 revenue ~£12.4bn with a reported loss blamed partly on >£100m of warm-weather demand loss (annual report; Bloomberg, 30 Dec 2025); ~11,400 staff; Kraken contracted annual recurring revenue ~£422m (FY25 annual report)
Signature moves (incl. failures): Founding with Octopus Group (2015); Kraken in-house platform (2016–); Agile and time-of-use tariffs (2018–); Origin stake and Kraken licensing (2020–); Texas entry via Evolve Energy (2020); the UK supplier failures and price cap (2021–22); Bulb takeover (2022); largest UK supplier and Shell Energy Retail (2023–24); Kraken spin-out (2025–26)

9 strategic moves analysed

Each one gets a full strategy file in the companion: context, the decision, the financing, what happened, and the lesson.

2015
Founding and the Octopus Group Backing
Founding
2016
Kraken In House Platform
Technology bet
2018
Agile Octopus and Time of Use Tariffs
Strategy pivot (product and pricing)
2020
Origin Stake and Kraken Licensing
Financing (strategic minority investment) / technology licensing
2020
Texas Entry via Evolve Energy
Acquisition / market entry
2021
UK Supplier Failures and the Price Cap
Market crisis / sector failure (Octopus as survivor and Supplier of Last Resort)
2022
Bulb Takeover
Acquisition (from special administration) / state support
2024
Largest UK Supplier and Shell Energy Retail
Acquisition / market position
2025
Kraken Spin Out and the D1 Round
Spin-off / financing

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