What Flexstrom does

FlexStrom AG was a privately held German electricity provider headquartered in Berlin that supplied residential customers under a prepayment (Vorauskasse) billing model in the liberalized German retail energy market. At its peak the company served approximately 500,000 household customers and operated a multi-brand structure spanning standard electricity (FlexStrom), green electricity (OptimalGrün via Löwenzahn Energie GmbH), and gas supply (FlexGas GmbH). The prepayment model and direct acquisition channels were the company's core commercial mechanics, intended to deliver competitive headline pricing by improving cash conversion versus post-payment rivals.

The company filed for insolvency in July 2013 (case 36f IN 1569/13 at Amtsgericht Charlottenburg) and ceased operations as a going concern. The insolvency estate, administered by Dr. Christoph Schulte-Kaubrügger of White & Case LLP, registered approximately 570 million EUR in claims from roughly 500,000 creditors. Between 2014 and 2018 the administrator pursued mass bonus recovery (Insolvenzanfechtung) actions against customers and civil claims against former management for alleged insolvency delay and embezzlement. The proceedings are now in their final distribution phase, with creditor letters dispatched from December 2025, a bank-detail update deadline in February 2026, and a final payout expected in Q4 2026 at a projected single-digit percentage insolvency quota.

Name

Flexstrom

Legal name

FlexStrom AG

Website

https://flexstrom.de

Company type

Private

Founded year

2013

Operating status

Closed

Headcount range

251–500 employees

Short description

FlexStrom AG was a Berlin-based residential electricity and gas supplier serving roughly 500,000 German households via prepayment contracts and a multi-brand structure. The company entered insolvency in July 2013 and is now in final creditor distribution, expected to conclude in Q4 2026.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Retail Electricity Supply

NAICS

Fuel Dealers (457210), Electric Power Generation, Transmission and Distribution (2211)

SIC

Natural Gas Transmisison & Distribution (4923)

akta.pro primary industry

Retail Supply + DER/Virtual Power Plant Bundles (Solar, Storage, DR) (EUAGABAI)

akta.pro secondary industries

Green Power Retailing & Bundled Supply (Energy + Certificates) (EUAGAFAE), Customer Care, Billing & CRM for Gas Retail (CX, Retention, Collections) (EUAAADAH)

Keywords

• Retail electricity supply
• Residential energy provider
• Gas supply services
• Prepayment billing model
• Alternative energy supplier

Headquarters

HQ city

Berlin

HQ country

Germany

HQ region

Europe

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Infrastructure, Supply Chain, Operations, Personnel, Marketing or Sales

Core offering

FlexStrom AG supplied electricity and natural gas to residential customers in Germany under a prepayment (Vorauskasse) billing model. The company operated through its main brand and three subsidiaries (Löwenzahn Energie GmbH for electricity, OptimalGrün GmbH for green/renewable electricity, and FlexGas GmbH for gas), serving approximately 500,000 households before entering insolvency in July 2013.

Product overview

FlexStrom AG was a German energy provider that offered electricity and gas supply contracts to approximately 500,000 residential customers, operating through its main brand and three subsidiary companies (Löwenzahn Energie GmbH, OptimalGrün GmbH, and FlexGas GmbH). The company utilized a prepayment (Vorauskasse) billing model. The company declared insolvency in July 2013, and the insolvency proceedings are currently concluding in 2026 with creditor distributions.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• FlexStrom Residential Electricity Supply
• Löwenzahn Energie Residential Electricity Supply
• OptimalGrün Green Electricity Supply
• FlexGas Natural Gas Supply

Segments1 record

Ideal customer profiles1 record

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Four partnerships are on record, tiered minor and core.

• Löwenzahn Energie GmbHminorOthersSubsidiary company of FlexStrom group also included in the insolvency proceedings. Case number: 36l IN 1572/13 at AG Charlottenburg.
• OptimalGrün GmbHminorOthersSubsidiary company of FlexStrom group also included in the insolvency proceedings. Case number: 36o IN 1577/13 at AG Charlottenburg.
• FlexGas GmbHminorOthersSubsidiary company of FlexStrom group also included in the insolvency proceedings. Case number: 36f IN 1753/13 at AG Charlottenburg.
• White & Case LLPcoreImplementation/ SI/ Consulting PartnerInsolvency administrator handling the FlexStrom insolvency proceedings. Located at Bockenheimer Landstraße 20, 60323 Frankfurt am Main. Insolvency administrator: Dr. Christoph Schulte-Kaubrügger. Operates creditor portal at flexstrom-inso.de. Hotline: +49 (0) 30 5684 9999.

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves6 records

Direct peers

• Greenpeace Energy: Greenpeace Energy is a German cooperative retail electricity supplier focused on green power for residential customers, directly comparable to FlexStrom's OptimalGrün subsidiary offering.
• EWS Elektrizitätswerke Schönau: EWS Schönau is a German citizen-owned green electricity retail supplier serving residential customers, directly comparable to the renewable-energy positioning of OptimalGrün.
• Extra Energie: Extra Energie was a German discount alternative electricity and gas retailer serving residential customers, directly comparable to FlexStrom's mass-market prepayment positioning.
• 123energie: 123energie is a German independent retail electricity and gas supplier targeting price-sensitive residential customers, comparable in market segment and value proposition to FlexStrom.
• Lichtblick: Lichtblick is a German independent retail electricity supplier focused on residential customers and renewable energy, competing in the same liberalized German energy market as FlexStrom.
• Naturstrom: Naturstrom is a German independent retail electricity supplier focused on renewable energy for households, operating in the same deregulated German residential energy market as FlexStrom.
• Care Energy: Care Energy is a German alternative retail energy supplier that also experienced severe financial distress and regulatory issues, making it a directly comparable operator in the same niche as FlexStrom.
• TelDaFax: TelDaFax was a German alternative retail energy and telecoms provider that similarly collapsed into insolvency in 2012, with hundreds of thousands of prepaid customers left as creditors — the closest functional analogue to FlexStrom in market, model, and outcome.

Broad incumbents

• Yello (EnBW): Yello is the consumer-facing retail electricity brand of major German utility EnBW, serving residential customers across Germany as a broader-incumbent alternative to specialist suppliers like FlexStrom.
• E.ON Vertrieb Deutschland: E.ON is one of Germany's largest integrated utilities with a broad residential retail electricity and gas offering, serving as the broad-incumbent reference competitor against alternative suppliers such as FlexStrom.

Market position

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat2 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights3 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/flexstrom-marketing-ag

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Subsidiaries3 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Flexstrom