POWER TO THE PEOPLE: PHIL LIVINGSTON OF REDBACK TECHNOLOGIES ON LEADING AN ENERGY REVOLUTION

It was while strapped to a gigantic wind turbine that Phil Livingston, the serial entrepreneur behind Redback Technologies, realised his ambition in life – to bring renewable energy to the masses.

Founded by Livingston in April 2015, Redback Technologies is in the business of developing intelligent, low cost solar energy solutions for residential and commercial users. After securing a $9.3 million investment from EnergyAustralia, last year, the Brisbane-based startup gained significant traction. The strategic partnership saw EnergyAustralia actively promote Redback’s hero product – the Smart Hybrid System – to its 1.7 million customers, which – as Livingston explained “massively accelerated our strategic plan for the mass adoption of renewables”.

Since then, Redback’s mission to transform Australia into a nation powered by renewable energy has been championed by other investors. Earlier this year, it received $1.96 million from the Queensland Government, by way of Energy Queensland and Advance Queensland, to further develop its offering. More recently, Clean Energy Innovation Fund and Right Click Capital injected a combined $8.99 million into the startup to boost its R&D capabilities and grow its workforce from 55 to 85 employees by early next year. In addition, Redback has established partnerships with Duserve Facilities Management in Dubai and Contact Energy in New Zealand as it looks to expand globally. Read more

James Harkness - Dynamic Business - 10 Nov 2017