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The Counterintuitive Go-to-Market Strategy Behind This Battery Analytics Platform’s Success

Back in 2017, when Tesla was just beginning to scale and EV adoption was still in its infancy, a small research team in Germany spotted a massive opportunity hiding in plain sight. As millions of expensive, complex batteries began entering the market, no one had figured out how to effectively monitor their health and performance at scale.

In a recent episode of Category Visionaries, Claudius Jehle shared how this insight led him to found Validika Diagnostics, a company that’s now monitoring over a gigawatt hour of batteries across multiple continents. But more interesting than what they built is how they built it – taking an unconventional approach to growth and market positioning that challenges standard startup wisdom.

The Hidden Opportunity in Complexity

The story begins in a research lab, where Claudius was studying electric bus batteries. His team quickly hit a fundamental limitation: “You cannot just take these hundreds of kilograms of battery acid from the vehicle and put it into a lab,” he explains. This seemingly simple problem – how to analyze battery health without removing batteries from vehicles – would become the foundation for a global business.

Their solution was to develop algorithms that could assess battery quality through field data. “We started to equip the first buses with telematic IoT devices, gathering huge amounts of data, and to come up with algorithms that analyze field data,” Claudius recalls. But it wasn’t until 2017 that they realized the true scale of the opportunity.

“Residual value of electric vehicles, leasing contracts around EVs, large stationary systems in containers. Gigawatt hours of batteries worth billions or even trillions will be around us, and nobody’s going to know how they are,” Claudius explains. This realization led to a crucial decision: “If this shall fly, if the technology that we’re developing in our tiny offices and labs, if this should fly, we have to build a company.”

The Second Line Strategy

Rather than pursuing end users directly, Validika made the controversial decision to position themselves as a backend provider, integrating their technology into existing fleet management systems and business processes. “We early on decided the software that we’re developing must be integratable into existing fleet management systems, into existing processes in the utility company,” Claudius shares.

This “second line” strategy meant giving up direct customer relationships and some margin, but it allowed for faster scaling. “Very bluntly speaking, you’re at the mercy of your reseller. If they are big, you have to embed yourself into them,” Claudius acknowledges. But this approach aligned with their vision of making battery information a commodity – accessible and affordable for any stakeholder who needs it.

Controlled Growth in an Emerging Market

Perhaps most counterintuitive was Validika’s approach to growth. Despite raising venture funding, they maintained a deliberately measured pace. “We didn’t grow too quick, too large to maintain efficiency in the team and being still able to react on the client needs,” Claudius explains.

This decision was driven by market reality: “The market is not yet able to tell us exactly, like with a specification document or something like that, what they exactly need.” With around 30 people today, they’ve maintained the ability to pivot quickly while building enough substance to serve enterprise clients.

Building Trust Through Technical Credibility

In the high-tech battery space, conventional marketing playbooks fall short. “We are dealing with a very complex technological component. So the market and early adopters and everyone needs to trust you. So you need to come up with a trustable story and not just marketing alone,” Claudius emphasizes.

Their approach focused heavily on industry events and relationship building. “For me, early adopters and finding interested people, my recipe would be to speak at as many events and exhibitions as possible,” he shares. This focus on building technical credibility over pure marketing messages has proven crucial in an industry where trust is paramount.

The patience paid off. “Last year was pivotal. It was the first year where really inbound requests were flowing in,” Claudius notes. Today, Validika’s technology monitors batteries across multiple continents, from utility-scale installations in Texas to electric bus fleets in Mexico City.

For technical founders building in emerging markets, Validika’s journey offers a compelling alternative to the standard startup playbook. Sometimes, the path to building a category-leading company requires the patience to grow in sync with market readiness, the courage to take a non-obvious position in the value chain, and the discipline to maintain flexibility as the market evolves.