Bolt

Upstream

As an energy platform that goes against the grain, Bolt has a strong promise to fulfill. With full transparency, they are starting the fight against greenwashing in the energy sector. Because at Bolt, every supplier gets a face and you know exactly where your energy comes from. But to share knowledge in such detail and on such a scale, an advanced platform is no luxury.

Our tech experts are working with the Bolt team on tools and platforms that inform users as simply and transparently as possible. We are not only their permanent partner for the energy platform, customer portal, and website, we also offer additional support within DevSecOps (infrastructure, security, and backends) within data, and as CTO-on-demand. Together, we ensure that the technology behind Bolt can continue to grow with the needs of the company.

The power of transparency

A transparent energy choice, how does that work? As a Bolt customer, you start your green energy journey with an online simulation where you can choose a generator yourself. And you make that choice well-founded. You will receive all kinds of information that can help you make a conscious choice, ranging from the type of green energy to inspection certificates and the amount of available energy, to even the name, location, and face of the generators.

And it doesn't stop there. Together with the Bolt team, we expanded this highly interactive platform with insights into their own energy consumption. As a consumer, you can see how much power you used and what the price of the energy was at that time. Based on this, the platform makes proposals that should help print the final bill.

The right tool for every challenge

In addition to new tools to support the customer service and sales teams in their daily tasks, the developers have set up various systems and tools to optimize the reusability and scalability of the code. Some examples of this are:

• A data pipeline and platform: here, data from different platforms is combined and bundled at a single central point. Bolt colleagues can then visualize, analyze, and use this mass of data in interactive dashboards.
  ^{(Tools: AWS Lambda, AWS Glue, S3, ECR, Apache Spark, Cockroach DB, Appflow, Step functions, IAM, Cloudfront)}
• A design system that serves as a manual for designers and developers, providing an overview of the various colors, fonts, components, blocks, and much more. The system also allows developers to expand and customize Bolt's front-end platforms more quickly, consistently, and easily.
  ^{(Tools: React, Vite, Github, NPM, Storybook)}
• A (headless) content management system to give marketers more control over the content that is visible on the various Bolt platforms.
  ^{(Tool: Strapi)}
• DevSecOps initiatives supported by Cloud Services hosted on Amazon Web Services.
  ^{(Tools: AWS Lambda, Terraform, Serverless Framework, etc.)}

Processing customer feedback is also a streamlined process thanks to a customized tool. Just like photo management, by the way. The developers at Bolt are constantly working to optimize not only the customer experience, but also the business processes. And our team is happy to assist them.

From tools to cohesion: CTO-as-a-service in action

With so many different tools, platforms, and initiatives in motion, cohesion is crucial. Through our CTO service, we support Bolt in refining and monitoring its cohesion and tech strategy.

In a series of workshops, we worked with the Bolt team to develop their future technological roadmap. Two strategic pillars were central to this: the further expansion of a professional data platform and the evolution of their DevSecOps approach.

After all, Bolt's growth brings new challenges: the increasing number of users is putting more and more pressure on the current infrastructure, and peak moments lead to unnecessary costs at times of low traffic. In our CTO role, we worked with Bolt to develop a scalable and cost-efficient architecture that moves with the rhythm of the platform. And we are, of course, ready to help with the implementation of this architecture.

SEO for a good flow

How do you make sure that prospects find your website? Right, via SEO. Searchability via search engines is a consideration that plays a part in almost all Bolt developments, not in the least when it comes to development. For example, to build the website and platform, the team opted for React in combination with Next.js. This combination not only improves the performance and developer experience, it is also the winning combo SEO-wise.

Furthermore, customized meta-tags and optimized ones ensure structured data for a good flow to the website. And if piece of resistance Bolt launched the energy encyclopedia: a handy guide that makes users wiser about terminology in the energy landscape and guides information seekers directly to Bolt's transparent platform.

Plenty of opportunities

Bolt is ambitious, and this is also reflected in other initiatives. Recently, the new Belgian energy cooperative Plenty was launched. This cooperative originated from Bolt with a clear mission: Plenty wants to give all Belgians the opportunity to invest in local, renewable energy themselves. Cooperative members work together to support local solar, water, and wind energy projects. In this way, they are helping to build a sustainable future.

Our colleagues were therefore delighted to lend their support to this website. Here too, we opted for React and Next.js. Thanks to the design system, the development of this website and the rebranding of Bolt on the online platforms went very smoothly.

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As you can see, we have already supported Bolt in a number of technically ingenious developments, and we look forward to continuing this collaboration.

Are you looking for extra support for your development team? Contact us, maybe we can help you out.