Solar energy technologies convert energy from sunlight to electricity, either directly through photovoltaics or indirectly through concentrated solar power or a combination of both. The European Union has taken significant measures to boost market uptake and make solar technologies more accessible to consumers, particularly through Clean Energy.
Due to a solid industrial foundation, solar power has fast become one of the cheapest technologies for electricity generation worldwide. Between 2009 and 2018, the costs of production decreased by 75% while the market continued to expand. In 2018, the EU market grew by 8GW, and by an estimated 15-17GW in 2019.
The solar market is expected to continue to grow from 2020 onwards, making solar capacity a cornerstone of the clean energy transition.
Funding via telecommunication
With such development in this sector, a Swedish-Polish startup SunRoof – manufacturer of solar roofs, has raised about €2M in a late seed round of funding for product development and global expansion.
This round was led by SMOK Ventures, with participation from LT Capital, EIT InnoEnergy, FD Growth Capital, and KnowledgeHub, as well as local business angels. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the whole process took place by means of telecommunication, without face-to-face meetings, and contracts were signed electronically.
SunRoof claims that round was oversubscribed with more available cash committed than it initially wanted to raise. It also mentions that the first investor, SMOK Ventures, made a binding proposal within just an hour of the first pitch deck having been sent.
“The moment I learned that Lech Kaniuk is working on a new project I took my phone and called him right away. The guys couldn’t believe how fast our investment process has been,” says Borys Musielak, Founding Partner at SMOK Ventures.
The funding news comes just a couple of months after the company announced the acquisition of Redlogger – a Swedish company that develops renewable energy supporting software.
Redlogger (Renewable Energy Data Logger) is a system and an application which logs the amount of green energy that is generated and consumed. In addition, it reports the energy for the Swedish Energy Agency, a requirement to receive compensation for the surplus provided to the grid. Redlogger will soon become available in all countries where SunRoof operates.
“We will use the funding from this round to develop solar technology and a digital platform for monitoring and efficiently managing our customer’s electricity needs. We are currently creating a unique energy marketplace based on the Redlogger. We are also strengthening our position in Sweden, Poland, and Norway, and are introducing SunRoof to a number of European markets,” says Lech Kaniuk, SunRoof CEO.
“I am convinced that renewable energies will soon become a standard around the world. Our ambition is to become a European counterpart of Tesla,” adds Kaniuk.
SunRoof and its growth
The company was established in Sweden in 2013 by Lech Kaniuk, Marek Zmyslowski, and Rafal Plutecki. SunRoof manufactures 2-in-1 solar roofs and innovative facades that generate electricity without having to install traditional photovoltaic modules.
The company aims to speed up the global transition to renewables by developing roofs that, by generating electricity, will cover the energy demand of the entire building.
The company claims to have recorded a 500% YoY growth. To date, the company has built more than 100 roofs in Sweden, Norway, and Poland. SunRoof currently operates in Scandinavia, Poland, and Kenya.
According to SunRoof, investors believe that renewable energy sources will dominate the energy market in the near future, especially as climate change drives international actions to work towards a sustainable economy. These efforts are best demonstrated by the EU’s European Green Deal, which seeks to make Europe climate-neutral and completely eliminate emissions by 2050.
Featured image credits: SunRoof
