Some founders dream of building the next social network. Luis Carlos Parra preferred to play with power plants, industrial meters, and grid rules. It sounds less glamorous, but in Colombia it might be far more useful.
As cofounder of Klik Energy, Parra is helping big companies turn their energy use into money, resilience, and cleaner operations, while earning a place among the most promising young innovators in Latin America.
Who is Luis Carlos Parra and what is Klik Energy
Parra is an engineer and entrepreneur who has spent years exploring how to mix software, data, and electricity systems. His work includes microgrid algorithms and off‑grid projects, from Colombia to the Andes.
In 2020, he co‑founded Klik Energy, a B2B marketplace focused on the demand side of the power sector. Instead of selling kilowatts like a regular utility, Klik sells intelligence and flexibility.
The basic idea is simple to explain, but complex to execute. If a company can safely lower its energy use during peak hours, the grid operator and generators benefit, so that flexibility should have a price.
Klik’s platform measures consumption in real time, predicts how much each client can reduce, and coordinates voluntary disconnections or load shifts when the system sends a signal.
A marketplace where saving energy brings in new income
For industrial users, the platform works like a new market. They commit a certain flexible capacity, and when the grid needs relief, they reduce consumption for short periods.
In return, they receive payments, often without having to invest in new equipment. That turns what used to be a rigid cost into a new revenue stream, especially attractive in tight economic cycles.
According to reports, Klik has managed more than 30% of Colombia’s aggregation market since 2020, with over 90 companies participating.
The startup has certified 16 GWh of clean energy and helped clients earn more than US$2.5 million, while handling daily aggregated loads of several gigawatt‑hours.
During recent El Niño stress, Klik contributed 4.33 GWh of effective demand response, energy comparable to the use of about 400,000 homes for a given period.
Why MIT technology review put Parra on its innovators under 35 list
In 2025, MIT Technology Review’s Spanish edition named Luis Carlos Parra one of the 35 Innovators Under 35 LATAM, in the Visionaries category.
The jury highlighted his predictive algorithms for industrial energy use and his way of monetizing demand flexibility, a concept still new in many Latin American markets.
The recognition also underlined Klik Energy’s social and environmental angle. By making flexible demand visible and tradable, the platform supports grid stability and reduces the need for emergency fossil generation.
Parra used the award stage to stress that Latin American innovation can compete globally when technical skill and sustainable purpose go together, not as separate tracks.
Energy, AI, and the path to a more flexible grid
Klik Energy’s technology relies on data analytics and AI‑supported models to predict consumption patterns and safe reduction margins for each client.
These models help decide when a factory can slow down a process, when a cold‑storage facility can raise temperature by a small margin, or when a building can dim lights without affecting comfort.
Beyond individual savings, this kind of demand response is part of a global trend. Studies show that flexible consumption can cut costs, support renewable integration, and reduce blackout risks.
In Colombia, where hydropower still dominates and climate events like El Niño create stress, having a digital knob on the demand side adds resilience without building a new dam or thermal plant.
What Klik Energy and Parra are aiming for next
Reports and company statements show that Klik grew around 60% in 2024, with more than US$3 million in managed transactions and ambitious plans to double daily managed energy to 7 GWh.
Alliances with firms like EPM seek to bring these tools to more large consumers, turning voluntary disconnections and demand response into standard options instead of unfamiliar pilots.
Parra and his team also push products like “Klik on Zero,” which help companies certify renewable use and connect to carbon credit schemes, tying energy management to climate finance.
For them, the long‑term vision is clear, treat energy data as a strategic layer in every big business, on par with finance or logistics.
A Colombian founder putting watts and bytes on the same page
Luis Carlos Parra’s story is not about a flashy gadget, but about connecting cables, code, and market rules in a smarter way. It is the kind of innovation that usually stays behind the scenes but keeps the lights on.
If platforms like Klik Energy keep growing, Colombia’s industrial sector could face fewer blackouts, lower bills, and a smoother path to renewables, all while earning money for using less energy at the right time.