Octopus Energy spins off its Kraken utility billing and AI platform

British renewable energy company Octopus Energy is spinning off its Kraken utility billing and AI platform into a separate entity, with a potential initial public offering (IPO) valued at $15 billion possibly occurring within a year. Kraken was originally Octopus’s first product, designed as a demonstration client before Octopus itself grew to serve over 7.7 million UK households and 2.8 million internationally. The spinoff aims to reduce conflicts of interest as Kraken seeks to partner with other utilities and power providers beyond Octopus. Octopus Energy, founded in 2015, has rapidly expanded to become the UK’s largest energy supplier, surpassing British Gas. Its growth has been driven by innovative customer acquisition strategies such as the Zero Bills program, which eliminates energy bills for fully electrified homes, and the Agile tariff, which incentivizes customers to use electricity during grid surpluses. Kraken leverages AI to analyze data from these initiatives and optimize the integration of renewable energy on the grid. The platform supports