OVO and Lightning Reach launch groundbreaking financial support hub for customers

OVO and fintech-for-good platform Lightning Reach have today launched a pioneering partnership to deliver faster, fairer access to financial support for households across the UK.

The challenge

OVO has long offered a customer support package, both in-house and through trusted partners, to help Discover how OVO and Lightning Reach's new financial support hub offers faster access to aid. OVO's innovative platform simplifies support access.those struggling with their bills. But as more households have been hit by the cost-of-living crisis, demand for help has risen sharply. With demand rising sharply, OVO recognised the opportunity to evolve its processes, ensuring customers get clearer, quicker access to the support available and staff can focus on delivering impact.

This demand is expected to rise further as the new energy price cap takes effect on 1 October, increasing pressure on households just as winter approaches.

The solution

To meet this challenge, OVO has partnered with Lightning Reach to bring its customer support schemes onto a single, unified digital platform. As well as joining up OVO’s support offering into a quick and streamlined process, the platform also opens access to personalised recommendations and applications for more than 2,500 grants and support packages nationwide - giving customers a holistic path to the help they need.

For customers, this means:

• One simple portal for wraparound support: customers can register in minutes and be matched to multiple types of help - from bill support and household essentials, to food, furniture and much more.

• Easy access: No need to repeat personal details or navigate a maze of forms.

• Faster results: applications that used to take weeks to hear back on can now be paid out in days, getting critical support out faster.

For OVO and its partners, the platform makes it easier to distribute support fairly, streamline processes, and reduce admin, with full visibility across every scheme. It also gives teams the confidence and data they need to scale their efforts, monitor outcomes in real time, and demonstrate the true impact of their support.

Lightning Reach has already helped more than 200,000 people access over £20 million in support, with the average successful applicant (like Jessica) receiving £1000 in financial help. By integrating OVO’s schemes, the platform sets a new benchmark for the utilities sector, and provides a replicable model for how other providers can expand support for their own customers.

Ren Yi Hooi, CEO & Founder, Lightning Reach says: “Millions of people miss out on vital support each year because the system is too complicated. Together with OVO, we’re changing that, and the timing couldn’t be more important as bills rise again this October. This partnership is pioneering in its approach in bringing together multiple support partners into a unified hub, and represents a blueprint that can be reproduced across the utilities sector.”

Steven Donovan, Vulnerability Lead, OVO commented “By working with partners like Lightning Reach, we’re providing support to those who need it most by working together with our charity partners and committing our largest ever customer support package.”

Individuals and families across the UK can find and apply for support in minutes at: www.lightningreach.org/application-portal 

Organisations interested in exploring a partnership with Lightning Reach can get in touch at: https://www.lightningreach.org/partners 

NOTES TO EDITORS

About Lightning Reach

Lightning Reach is an award-winning Fintech for good startup which simplifies access to grants and other vital support for individuals and families in need. Through its innovative financial support portal,

Lightning Reach has already registered over 200,000 users and facilitated more than £20 million in grants to households amidst the cost-of-living crisis. The company leverages cutting-edge technology to streamline access to support, reducing paperwork for organisations and making support more accessible to those who need it most. Lightning Reach was recently named in Sifted's 2025 list of the fastest-growing startups in the UK and Ireland

About OVO

In 2009, OVO was born to make energy better for people and the planet. Today, OVO is trusted by around four million customers with their home energy, EV charging, green tech upgrades, and more. OVO is getting the UK ready for a greener, fairer future – supporting new renewable power projects in communities across the country. Not only is OVO bringing low carbon tech into homes, it’s finding smart ways to cut costs for customers – making heat pumps, solar panels, and electric cars more accessible.

Behind all this work is Plan Zero: the bold, science-backed sustainability strategy, which sets out how OVO will become a true net zero business by 2035. This progress can only happen with a culture fit for the future. OVO’s multiple awards include the Best Place to Work for Women in The Sunday Times’ Best Places to Work 2023, which also saw the company coming in the Top 10 for Very Big Organisation. 

OVO also won Company of the Decade at the BusinessGreen Leaders’ Awards 2020. 

Press Contacts:

Alice Dibblin, Lightning Reach, alice@lightningreach.org 

OVO comms team, media@ovo.com 

Images can be downloaded here