In 2022, a man who had spent six years at the heart of one of Europe's fastest fintechs walked away to start an energy supplier. It sounded absurd. About 30 British suppliers had just gone bust.
Alan Chang had been one of Revolut's early hires, working his way through operations to chief revenue officer, and reportedly seen as a close lieutenant of its founder. He left in September 2022. With him went Charles Orr, another early Revolut person who became Fuse's chief operating officer. Sources on Chang's birthplace and schooling are thin, and profiles even disagree on his degree, so the personal side of this story stays modest. What is documented is a reason: Chang has said he entered energy because of rising prices and climate change.
Energy retail is a thin-margin business, and the last wave of fast-growing suppliers collapsed when wholesale prices turned.
The first move was a shortcut. In February 2022 the company acquired Paddington Power, a firm that already held an Ofgem electricity supply licence, later renamed Fuse Energy Supply. That avoided a long wait for permission. It also reflects an instinct from his Revolut years: own the licence, own the pace.
Money came early. A $78M seed was led by Balderton and Lakestar. Then came assets rather than just software. A small generator, Balnamoon Renewables, was bought in July 2022. Public supply began in July 2023 after a beta phase. In November 2024 Ofgem granted a gas licence.
Then the numbers began to move. Customers rose from about 50,000 homes in July 2025 to about 200,000 by December and past 300,000 by June 2026. In December 2025, $70M at a roughly $5bn valuation made it one of Britain's most richly valued private companies, up from about $1bn five months earlier. Its annual sales were GBP 129.7M, and the Sunday Times ranked its three-year sales growth at 484%.
The risk is plain. Energy retail is a thin-margin business, and the last wave of fast-growing suppliers collapsed when wholesale prices turned. Fuse is building its own solar farms, including Netley Central in September 2025, partly to hold more of its own supply. Public sources do not give its profit or loss.
For a first-time founder, the useful part is less about energy than about timing. Chang entered a market that had just been emptied of competitors and moved faster than anyone expected. Sometimes the best moment to start is straight after everyone else has been hurt.