Starting a venture in the energy sector has always been something of navigating upstream. In contrast to industries where software agility lets you validate business models in a matter of weeks, electricity retail in Spain has historically been characterized by a high regulatory entry barrier, slim margins, and the dominant presence of traditional large corporations backed by multi‑million‑dollar budgets and massive sales networks. backed by multi-million-dollar budgets and massive sales networks.
The recent entry into force of Royal Decree 88/2026, which introduces a stricter and more rigorous contracting validation system to protect consumers, has sparked intense sector-wide debate. For traditional operators, accustomed to aggressive acquisition models through mass telemarketing and win-back calls, the new rule is seen as a bureaucratic obstacle that strains their operations. However, for the new wave of energytech startups, this regulatory framework is not a threat: it is confirmation that the sector’s future hinges on technology, ethics, and transparency.
The compliance challenge against the burden of traditional infrastructure
In hyper-regulated sectors, regulatory compliance is often viewed as the startup’s great speed killer. However, the real challenge lies in the inherited structures. Large utilities have historically based customer retention and acquisition on the opacity of the kilowatt-hour, phone harassment, and contractual complexity. When a regulation comes to prohibit or restrict those practices, multinationals struggle because adapting their heavy call-center infrastructures and intermediary channels requires titanic and costly effort.
On the contrary, energy startups born in the digital era operate under an opposite paradigm. When your model does not rely on aggressive telemarketing but on delivering real value and clarity through the smartphone, complying with a decree like RD 88/2026 does not require rebuilding the business, because commercial ethics and transparency were built-in by design into the product.
From invasive selling to software-driven efficiency
The new regulatory framework requires unequivocal verification of the user’s consent and understanding before formalizing a contract. This exposes the sector’s real crossroads: will we keep spending resources on convincing the customer through friction and insistence, or will we build tools so that the user can choose to stay freely?
Energytech startups have before us a historic opportunity to prove that software has displaced infrastructure as the main competitive advantage. Artificial Intelligence and real-time data analytics aren’t mere marketing resources; they’re the tools that allow us to simplify the market’s complexity. By equipping users with conversational assistants, price-alerts, and automated optimization solutions (such as Smart Charging for electric vehicles), the need to “sell” disappears. The consumer understands their consumption, sees the savings in their mobile app, and takes control of their bill.
The future of the energytech ecosystem in Spain
Entrepreneurship in a regulated sector teaches a fundamental lesson: strict regulations don’t kill innovation; they kill business models built on inefficiency and abuse of market power.
The RD 88/2026 marks the beginning of a phase where the rules of the game are more demanding for electricity marketing, but also fairer for the citizen. Digital retailers that have bet on tight margins, transparent fixed management fees, and zero intrusive calls operate in a landscape with a natural advantage.
The challenge for energytech entrepreneurs is to use technology to stay ahead of regulation rather than merely react to it. Those companies that manage to turn regulatory requirements into an impeccable, transparent, and automated user experience will lead the energy transition in the coming decade. Consumer trust, historically eroded in this market, has ceased to be a utopia and has become the business’s greatest asset.
By Pol Brau, Business Manager at Chippio.
