 | |
| Bulb | |
| Company type | Subsidiary |
| Industry | Energy supply |
| Predecessors | Regent Power Ltd., Hanbury Energy Ltd. |
| Founded | April 2013 |
| Founders |
|
| Headquarters | London , United Kingdom |
| Revenue |  £1.52B[1] (2020) |
| -£63M[1] (2020) | |
| Members | 1,700,000 (Nov 2021) |
Number of employees | 1,000[2] (2020) |
| Parent |
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| Website | https://bulb.co.uk; https://bulb.com |
Bulb Energy Ltd., trading as Bulb, was an energy supply company in the United Kingdom acquired by Octopus Energy in 2022. Founded in 2013, the company attracted venture capital from DST Global and Magnetar Capital and ran at a financial loss while achieving rapid growth in customers.[3] Bulb claimed to provide electricity and gas from renewable or off-set sources. As of November 2021, it had a share of approximately 5-6% of the UK energy market and was considered the seventh largest in the country.
In September 2021, the company sought a bailout due to financial problems caused by increasing natural gas prices. Instead, it was placed into the Energy Supply Company Administration (a special administration regime) by industry regulator Ofgem on 24 November 2021 following a refusal by investors to provide further funding. While customers of other failed suppliers have been transferred by Ofgem to new suppliers, the regulator decided Bulb was too large, so it became the first energy company in the UK to enter special administration.
In October 2022, Octopus Energy announced they planned to acquire Bulb's 1.5 million customers and 650 staff. The acquisition was completed on 21 December 2022.
- ^ a b Adam John (11 March 2021). "Bulb saw losses reduce in 2020". Utility Week. Retrieved 10 June 2021.
- ^ Team Bulb (2 March 2021). "Annual update for members 2020". Bulb blog. Retrieved 10 June 2021.
- ^ "'Too good to be true': the rapid rise and costly fall of Bulb Energy". the Guardian. 22 November 2021. Retrieved 22 November 2021.