Aachen/Munich, March 19, 2026 – gridX, one of Europe’s leading providers of smart energy management systems (EMS), announces changes within its executive leadership. Jonas Quilitz, currently CPO at the GreenTech startup Planted, will assume the role of Managing CPO at the Aachen office effective April 1, 2026, to further develop the product vision and strategy and to drive technological development. With his promotion to VP Technology, Marcel Müller will continue to lead the company’s technology division and report to Quilitz. Tim Steinmetz has left the company at his own request to pursue his own energy transition projects; the company is already working intensively on finding his successor. Anne Bicking, Chief Executive Officer (CEO), will remain the sole managing director until Quilitz takes over on April 1 of this year.
Jonas Quilitz and Marcel Müller ensure the product’s future viability
At gridX, Quilitz will more closely integrate product management and technology development and strategically advance the product vision. The goal is to further strengthen alignment between gridX, business customers’ needs and the demands of the energy market, while driving forward selected innovations in collaboration with the VP of Technology Marcel Müller.
Quilitz founded his first company while still studying media informatics. Through this venture, and later through the merger with smartin Advertising, he developed software solutions for clients including O2, LG, Renault, Sixt, edding, and C&A. From May 2020 as VP of Product at the security awareness provider SoSafe, he took responsibility for the measurable expansion of the product development organization. He played a key role in developing the platform, which is used by millions of users across thousands of organizations worldwide. Since February 2023, he has served as CPO at the GreenTech startup Planted, an AI-powered ESG management platform. There he is responsible for both product development, as well as investor relations and funding rounds.
Jonas Quilitz says: “I can’t wait to bring my passion for software development and my experience in scaling and leading software companies to gridX. After shaping SoSafe’s journey from startup to scale-up and establishing Planted as a successful tech company in recent years, I’m now looking forward to taking gridX – an established scale-up – to the next level and making my contribution to the energy transition a little bigger every day.”
Tim Steinmetz, the driving force behind years of scaling, wants to pursue a new entrepreneurial path
Tim Steinmetz joined gridX as CGO in 2019 and took over as Managing Director in 2023. He sums it up: “gridX is a truly special company. Being part of it for nearly seven years was a privilege that I greatly appreciate. Together with the team, I succeeded in building a resilient company that was able to withstand many challenges – from the pandemic to changing energy policy. gridX is strongly positioned for future growth and is in the best hands with Anne, Jonas and Marcel.”
Anne Bicking, CEO of gridX, comments on the leadership transition: “Tim Steinmetz has shaped gridX with great passion over many years and laid a strong foundation for our current growth. We thank him deeply for such successful collaboration and wish him all the best in his next entrepreneurial endeavors. With Jonas Quilitz, we are now gaining an experienced leader who will sharpen our product vision with fresh ideas and deep technical expertise. I am very much looking forward to working with him and Marcel Müller to usher in the next phase of growth and firmly establish gridX as the European market leader for digital energy solutions.”
gridX is Europe's leading smart energy company based in Aachen and Munich. With its modular EMS XENON, gridX enables manufacturer-independent optimization and management of distributed energy resources. With XENON, partners can build, scale and adapt energy management solutions faster and more efficiently than ever before, always meeting evolving market demands. E-mobility partners can install more and higher power charge points at sites without the need for costly grid extensions. Partners in home energy management minimize costs and complexity by offering end customers holistic smart energy management built for the future.
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