“Sustainability and affordability should go hand in hand”: A conversation with Luuk Veeken, Dexter founder and CEO

From learning to code with Python tutorials during his daily train commute to leading a scale-up that accelerates Europe’s energy transition, our CEO, Luuk Veeken’s, journey has always been powered by purpose. An Energy Science graduate, Luuk taught himself programming and power markets on the go, setting the foundation for what would become Dexter Energy.

He founded Dexter to solve a pressing and complex challenge: how to make a 100% sustainable energy grid actually work? Today, he leads a 90-person team that helps over 80 renewable energy companies across nine countries navigate short-term power markets using AI-based forecasts and trading signals. His drive is rooted in pragmatism, balancing a bold vision with the day-to-day realities of running a business in a highly complex environment.

Now that we have announced a new €23 million Series C funding round, we know many readers – newcomers, especially, but also long-time followers – are curious to learn more or refresh their knowledge about who we are at Dexter Energy and what we stand for. So, we sat down with Luuk to discuss the energy transition and its challenges, the role of AI and batteries, and where Dexter is headed following the investment.

For readers new to Dexter, how would you sum up our mission?

Our mission is to help accelerate the energy transition through our AI solutions by enabling energy companies to extract more value from wind, solar, and battery assets.

In particular, we support asset-backed traders – those who own and operate renewable energy and/or storage assets – in navigating increasingly volatile short-term power markets. By making the grid more balanced and renewables trading more profitable, we accelerate the transition to a cleaner, more affordable energy future.

What role does affordability play in your vision for the energy transition?

Wind and solar, once installed, are essentially free sources of energy. However, to ensure society can truly benefit from this transition, we need to steer power more intelligently, leveraging smarter asset control, significantly scaling grid interconnections, and accelerating storage deployment.

I genuinely believe that with falling prices for solar and batteries, this system can also become cheaper in the long run, not just CO₂-neutral. To me, sustainability and affordability should go hand in hand. The best way to build a more sustainable world is to make it accessible and attractive to everyone.

Within this context, what are the core problems Dexter is solving?

This energy transition is creating challenges that didn’t exist even five years ago. We’re increasingly operating in a volatile energy system driven by a lot of solar and wind. That’s great – it’s CO₂-free. But you can’t control the wind and sun. Sure, you can turn the turbine or panel off, but you can’t just turn them on since you can’t command the wind to blow and the sun to shine. That makes it more difficult to maintain grid stability.

Grid congestion is becoming more common. In some areas, there’s too much renewable generation for the local grid to handle; in others, there are shortages caused by changing demand patterns. More batteries are being added to help absorb and redistribute supply, but they also need to be optimized. In many regions, the only viable long-term solution remains substantial grid reinforcement.

This broader system transformation creates very specific pain points for renewable energy producers. Their earning potential is under pressure due to three core problems:

• If production isn’t optimized properly, they produce more and more at times when other production is also occurring. For instance, when it’s windy, all wind turbines obviously spin harder, which causes prices to drop. The same for solar.
• With more wind and solar capacity, the forecasting errors inherent in renewable energy trading also become bigger. This creates more pain because they need to be in balance as much as possible to avoid costly penalties.
• It’s not always easy to develop forecasting capabilities in-house. Asset-backed traders need access to vast amounts of data, multiple weather models, and, obviously, the talent and infrastructure to use machine learning at scale.

Across the entire energy transition, increasingly complex challenges require sophisticated solutions; that’s where we step in with our solutions.

What is the role of batteries in all of this?

Batteries are stepping in where renewables leave a gap.

As mentioned, we’re adding more and more solar and wind energy to the grid. But with that comes a new kind of volatility. In the Netherlands, for example, solar generation can hit 2.5 times the level of actual demand. You can’t simply flip a switch and dim the sun. You could curtail solar production, but that would mean wasting clean energy. And, although some curtailment is necessary for a clean energy system, it still makes more sense to store the excess and use it later, say, in the evening, when demand picks up again, and the sun has set. That’s exactly what batteries are for.

Batteries were once viewed as a quick fix: a means to balance very short-term mismatches between supply and demand. But that role is evolving rapidly. We’re now seeing larger batteries entering the market, playing into day-ahead and intraday strategies, not just ancillary services. It’s a clear sign that storage is becoming a fundamental component of our future energy system.

That said, the path to scaling batteries isn’t without challenges. Financing remains difficult because, unlike solar and wind, batteries don’t have predictable revenues or guaranteed subsidies. Their profitability depends entirely on navigating volatile prices – a risk profile that makes banks wary. Add to that the complexity of grid fees, cues, permitting, and site selection, and the investment hurdles quickly stack up.

Fortunately, things are changing: policy support is growing, and battery technology is improving rapidly, resulting in lower costs, better performance, and larger scale.

What sets Dexter apart in the industry?

We’re in a pretty unique position in the market, and that really comes down to the combination of things we do. We’re strong in power and price forecasting and asset-backed trading strategies for renewables, working with a large base of clients. Our AI approach also means that our models become smarter over time, allowing us to feed those insights back into the system to continually improve both forecasting and trading strategies.

Another thing that sets us apart is that we’re not a trading party ourselves. We don’t compete with our clients; we help them perform at their best. We are a software-as-a-service provider, offering clear, data-driven recommendations to help our clients make informed trading decisions.

This approach allows us to stay focused on what we do best: delivering the technology, models, and intelligence behind the trades. And that positioning really resonates, not just with our customers, but also with investors. It’s a scalable, focused model that lets us stay aligned with the people we’re here to support.

What are your ambitions following this investment round?

Up until now, we’ve mostly focused on individual components, such as better forecasts for wind or solar, or a specific strategy to improve trading outcomes. What we’re aiming for is a comprehensive, full-service package: helping our clients get the most out of their entire renewable portfolio.

That means bringing everything together – wind, solar, and increasingly, storage – into one optimized system. We’re furthest along with asset-backed trade optimization in the Netherlands, and we’re actively expanding that approach in Belgium and Germany. The ambition is to roll it out across more European markets. Of course, our customers can continue to make use of specific components, depending on their needs.

To conclude, do you believe the energy transition will be successful?

We still face some major challenges, not just on the supply side, but also in how we use energy. You can build all the solar and wind capacity you want, but a significant portion of our energy system still relies on gas, oil, and other fossil fuels directly. That needs to be electrified, too.

At the same time, we’ve underestimated how critical grid expansion and system integration would be. Some of those insights came too late, and we’re now catching up, learning how to better manage surpluses and shortages on a more local level, as well as how to connect countries more effectively.

I can’t say exactly how long it will take, and I believe some parts of the journey will be uncomfortable, but I do think the energy transition is feasible – and happening.

I believe that, by 2040, most of our electricity system can be decarbonized. Maybe 5–10% will still rely on gas for exceptional demand peaks – that’s fine. We shouldn’t obsess over 100%. Instead, let’s be pragmatic, get as far as we can, and keep it affordable. That’s how you build real support for the energy transition.