🎙️ “We need to give women the power back over their own data,” Amber explained, detailing a blueprint for business that challenges the profit-first model dominating today’s tech landscape.

The Problem with Current Women’s Health Apps

While millions of women globally rely on period tracking apps, Amber highlighted a worrying reality:

• Most are VC-backed and male-owned, with data practices that often prioritise profit over privacy.

• Some leading apps have faced lawsuits for mishandling sensitive user information, eroding trust.

• Subscription models and employer-based access schemes often exclude the 80% of women who cannot afford expensive plans.

“These models are outdated,” Amber said. “They’re designed for the privileged few, not the many.”

28X: A Radically Different Approach 🚀

Rather than replicating the flawed systems already in place, Amber is building 28X around three radical principles:

• No data collection by default: Users’ information stays on their device unless they choose otherwise.

• Completely free access: No paywalls, no barriers.

• Ethical funding model: Self-funded with selective, mission-aligned investors, avoiding the pressures that can lead to unethical compromises.

🦋 The name 28X reflects the 28-day cycle and the X chromosome, with a butterfly symbol representing transformation—a fitting metaphor for Amber’s ambitions.

A New Blueprint for Business 📈

Amber’s vision for 28X isn’t just about creating a better health app. It’s about showing the world that responsible, ethical businesses can still scale, still succeed—and still make a real difference.

Key features of her approach:

• Circular impact: Future profits will be partially reinvested in supporting female founders and climate-focused businesses.

• Longevity over exit: Rather than building for a quick sale, 28X is designed for long-term ownership, offering dividends rather than structuring for acquisition.

• Open invitation for collaboration: Amber is actively calling for support from professionals who want to help build an ethical giant in women’s health tech.

“We have enough companies focused purely on extraction. Let’s build something different—something that gives back.”

Lessons from an Entrepreneurial Journey

Amber’s own story—rooted in resilience, creativity, and hard-earned lessons—shapes everything she is building today.

Key takeaways she shared:

• Build around paradox: Entrepreneurship is the constant balancing of highs and lows.

• Own your resilience: Setbacks are inevitable; persistence is essential.

• Work when others watch TV: Amber attributes much of her early success to sacrificing downtime to build her ventures in the evenings.

• Ethics must be baked in early: Retrofitting ethics doesn’t work; they must be foundational.

A Call to Action 📣

Amber’s goal is bold: reach 100 million women a month within five years, making 28X the world’s largest, most trusted period tracking platform.

“If we want to change the status quo, we need to think big—and do it ethically,” she said.

💬 Interested in helping? Amber is inviting skilled volunteers, collaborators, and mission-driven supporters to join the movement. “We can build this together,” she urged.

PowerVault is pioneering affordable residential battery storage, helping consumers harness solar energy and store it for use when the grid is under pressure. But behind that simple idea lies something much bigger: a model for reducing grid strain, supporting renewable adoption, and giving consumers more agency without demanding lifestyle sacrifice.

🛠️ The Case for a Smarter Grid Starts at Home

“You can start with a simple algorithm. Then, once people are in, you can gamify the system and drive behavioural change.”

PowerVault’s batteries aren’t just about shaving a few quid off your electricity bill. They’re part of a broader ecosystem designed to balance national demand, support heat pump adoption, and help reduce the staggering infrastructure investment needed to hit net zero.

Some key stats Robin referenced:

• The UK may need to invest £540 billion in grid infrastructure over the next 25 years to meet peak winter demand.

• Yet every £1 spent on solar and batteries can potentially save £4 in future infrastructure costs.

• A typical PowerVault user could halve their electricity costs, particularly when paired with solar and a time-of-use tariff.

But it’s not just about the money. This is about redesigning energy systems to fit how people actually live. It’s about nudging, not nagging.

💡 Behavioural Economics Meets Renewable Tech

In discussing recent government efforts to promote air source heat pump adoption through “nudge theory,” Robin reflects on the challenges of changing public perception—and why a more interconnected approach might be necessary.

“Telling people to change doesn’t work. If we want better outcomes, the sustainable choice has to become the easier one.”

He explains that while heat pumps represent a key part of the decarbonisation puzzle, they are often misunderstood. Many households still see them as expensive, noisy, or unfamiliar. Meanwhile, installers—long accustomed to gas boilers—can be reluctant to change their ways. The answer? Broader systems thinking and easier decision-making pathways for consumers.

By integrating solar, batteries, insulation, and smarter tariffs, Robin argues we can:

• Reduce upfront financial risk for households

• Create better comfort without complexity

• Drive adoption without reliance on ideology or sacrifice

🧠 Engineering a Culture of Curiosity

Despite being a startup, PowerVault actively encourages experimentation across the business. Whether it’s product development, messaging, or user interface design, Robin stresses the importance of learning loops.

“Companies need to experiment to learn. And being small, we get immediate feedback.”

This includes listening to highly engaged customers—often engineers and technologists—who are testing boundaries and pushing the tech to new use cases. PowerVault has begun integrating insights from these ‘power users’ into product evolution, and even exploring ways to create “made-in-Britain” bundles in collaboration with other clean tech innovators.

🔍 Fighting Misinformation in the Home Energy Market

One of the subtler but recurring themes in Robin’s conversation was how misinformation—or lack of clear, accessible education—can stifle adoption.

“People read about lithium scooters catching fire and assume it’s the same risk in our managed battery systems. It’s not.”

PowerVault is working hard to simplify its messaging and make the technology feel approachable, safe, and beneficial. The long-term goal? A user experience that feels as natural and invisible as a boiler—except cleaner, cheaper, and smarter.

🪄 Magic Wand: Longer-Term Thinking, Please

If Robin could change one thing about the commercial world?

“I’d imbue investors with a 10- or 20-year horizon. Right now, shareholder short-termism is stalling the energy transition.”

He points out that while major oil companies pull back from renewables, some of the world’s largest petrostates are doubling down on clean energy. India’s Adani Group, for instance, is building some of the world’s largest solar farms—despite being one of the biggest coal producers.

The contradiction is clear. The question now is: which model will dominate?

🧭 Final Thought

Robin’s story isn’t just about PowerVault. It’s about redesigning systems—financial, technical, behavioural—so that doing the right thing becomes the logical thing. It’s a blend of old-school engineering discipline and 21st-century agility, applied to the challenge of making sustainable living simple.

This episode offers real insight into the granular side of the energy transition. Not the macro targets or the hype—but the reality of what’s happening on British rooftops, behind the meter, and inside the minds of households choosing to step into a smarter energy future.