CleanTech / EnergyTech
Somayeh Taheri: The Woman Rewiring Britain’s Energy Market
Combining academic research, technology and a determination to challenge an outdated system, Somayeh Taheri built UrbanChain—one of Britain’s fastest-growing clean-technology companies. Her mission is ambitious: to create a fairer and more transparent energy market that connects renewable generators directly with consumers.
Dr Somayeh Taheri
Co-founder and CEO, UrbanChainManchester, United Kingdom
“Energy should never be a luxury. It is a necessity.”
Story
Growing up in Shiraz, Somayeh Taheri felt that ambition for young women often came with limits. Social expectations shaped what women were encouraged to pursue, and careers in engineering, energy and leadership rarely appeared open to them.
Determined to create a different future, she moved to the United Kingdom in 2010. After studying Sustainable Urbanism at University College London, she continued her academic journey at the University of Manchester, where her PhD and subsequent research into fuel poverty and climate helped shape the thinking that eventually led to UrbanChain.
Finding the Fault in the System
Through her research into fuel poverty and climate, Taheri identified a contradiction: renewable electricity could be produced locally, yet consumers continued to face high and unpredictable prices.
She realised that the problem was not only how energy was generated, but how it was bought and sold. Renewable generators depended on the wholesale market, while consumers had little control or transparency over where their electricity came from.
Building the Missing Market
In 2017, Taheri co-founded UrbanChain with Dr Mo Hajhashem and Ayesha Naureen.
The company developed a technology platform that connects renewable generators directly with consumers. Its system matches supply and demand every half hour, creating a more transparent market with fewer traditional intermediaries.
However, the technology was ahead of the market. The founders had to explain their model to established energy companies, work closely with regulators and take significant personal financial risks. At one stage, Taheri and Hajhashem invested approximately £400,000 of their own savings to keep the company progressing.
Proving the Model
UrbanChain began scaling rapidly in 2023. A major breakthrough followed in 2024 when it received an Ofgem electricity supply licence, allowing the company to supply electricity directly to business customers.
The company was later ranked third in the Deloitte UK Technology Fast 50 and named Britain’s fastest-growing clean-technology company. UrbanChain now works with renewable generators and energy users including businesses, estates, local authorities and data centres.
Question the System
Somayeh Taheri’s journey demonstrates that major opportunities can be hidden inside systems people have stopped questioning.
She combined academic research with entrepreneurial determination, challenged assumptions about who could lead in the energy industry and transformed an ambitious idea into commercially proven infrastructure.
Her message to other founders is clear: trust your judgement, build strong networks and do not accept conventional wisdom without questioning it.