Spain’s Samara bags €4.5M to help households transition to smart, efficient and greener energy

Madrid-based Samara, a solar tech startup that helps build homes of the future with solar energy, reportedly announced on Monday, that it has raised €4.5M in a Seed round of funding.

According to TechEU, the investment was led by Madrid-based Seaya Ventures, a multi-sector fund investing in outstanding and mission-driven founders of European tech companies. Existing investor Pelion Green Future, a Munich-based clean energy and technology investment firm, also participated in this round. 

Both investors have already co-led Samara’s pre-Seed round six months ago, with €2M in investment.

What does Samara offer?

Founded in 2022, Samara assists homes in accelerating the switch to a smart, efficient, and sustainable energy generation and consumption model. The company helps homeowners to set up solar panels, batteries, and EV chargers in their houses.

Samara’s online configurator, which also offers advice on storage batteries and solar-powered EV chargers, assists users in setting up their rooftops with the most efficient solar PV configuration, says the company. Before making a purchase, customers can also see 3D design renderings of solar items using the programme. They can also enter their power use to determine cost savings and pollution reductions.

Samara is led by co-founders Iván Cabezuela, a former employee of Amazon and Uber who oversaw the Spanish branch of the energy company Bulb, and Manel Pujol Olivares, a former country manager for Uber Eats.

The founders mention in a blog, “Our generation faces the great challenge of significantly reducing CO2 emissions. Solar power is the solution and we see a cleaner future where households will be self-sufficient and proactively manage their energy. Hence, we offer our clients the option of installing solar panels, batteries and an electric vehicle charger, as well as an assistance and maintenance service to generate great savings on their energy bill.”

Samara says it aims to install more than 1 million homes with solar panels in the next three years in Spain alone, which is 10 times more than all the installations that currently exist.

Why is solar energy important?

The globe is heating up as we experience the hottest temperatures in the past 2,000 years. Since 2000, there have been 19 record-breaking hot years, and the trend is going upward. The primary contributors to this rise in temperatures are greenhouse gases, particularly carbon dioxide (CO2). And the primary source of these gases is human activity, particularly the burning of fossil fuels for energy.

However, not all hope is lost. Public outcry is growing and there is a strong political resolve, particularly in Europe, to lead the energy transition and achieve complete CO2 neutralisation by 2050. And this is where Samara is looking to make a difference. According to the company, green energy will be crucial in achieving the goals. 

Samara mentions in a blog post that by 2026, it’s anticipated that 95 per cent of the new generating systems deployed would be powered by renewable resources. And only 29 per cent of the energy used today will come from fossil fuels in 2050, compared to 50 per cent from solar and wind energy.

Samara says, “The improvement of technology and production systems, especially with regard to photovoltaic solar energy, will allow us to accelerate this transition. For example, the price of solar panels has gone from €4.47 to €0.19 per watt in the last 20 years, a reduction of 96 per cent.”

“Installing solar panels on homes already makes a lot of sense and is cost-effective. Spain, despite having 300 sunny days a year, is far behind other countries in Europe but this is beginning to change, the revolution is coming!” adds the company.

Capital utilisation

As reported by TechEu, Samara’s own solar engineers help customers install new solar panels and other solar equipment in addition to the front-end software. And according to Samara, Spain has seen a shortage of skilled installers. So the startup’s development goals might generate employment and tempt more people to enter the solar business.

With the raised capital, the company aims to go national with its business model, opening several installation hubs across Spain.

Co-founder Iván Cabezuela told TechEu, “The goal is to continue the exponential growth we are experiencing in these first six months, to expand our geographic scope and to continue developing digital solutions to help our customers optimise their consumption.”

The startup is also looking to invest in its software upgrades. With a “totally digital” interface that is still usable after solar installation, Samara hopes to enable consumers to monitor energy usage in real time.