December 21, 2022
As the solar energy industry continues to gain traction as an important way to combat climate change, investments into promising startups within the sector have been increasing year over year.
In 2022, eleven particularly ambitious startups secured funding and are now pushing forward with exciting plans for renewable energy projects which could revolutionize how we use these technologies in our everyday lives.
In this post, we will take you through each of these 11 high-profile solar startups funded in 2022 and look at their unique characteristics that catapulted them into a world of continued success. Get ready for an inspiring journey around the globe towards a brighter future!
Headquarters: Nairobi, Nairobi Area, Kenya
Founders: Anish Thakkar, Mayank Sekhsaria, T. Patrick Walsh
Year founded: 2007
Latest funding: $70,000,000 (Series D)
Total funding: $567,000,000
Investors: Citi, LeapFrog Investments, responsAbility, Deutsche Bank, SunFunder
What they do: Sun King sells, installs and finances solar home systems for the 1.8 billion off-grid and under-electrified consumers.
Headquarters: Mumbai, Maharashtra, India
Founders: Shreya Mishra
Year founded: 2015
Latest funding: $12,094,538 (Series A)
Total funding: $16,052,443
Investors: Lowercarbon Capital, Elevation Capital, Better Capital, Climate Angels, Sanjeev Barnwal
What they do: SolarSquare Energy is a residential solar company that designs and installs solar rooftop panels for homes and commercial establishments. Trusted by more than 4000 homeowners and fortune 500 companies, SolarSquare strives to help customers save a minimum of Rs. 2000 on their monthly electricity bills.
Headquarters: Alexandria, New South Wales, Australia
Founders: Chris McGrath, Eden Tehan
Year founded: 2013
Latest funding: $17,064,741 (Series B)
Total funding: $47,329,472
Investors: Artesian VC, AES, AES Corporation, BP Ventures
What they do: 5B is a clean technology innovator and developer of the Maverick solution. 5B accelerates the transformation of the world to a clean energy future by developing and delivering technology and solutions that make clean energy more competitive, accessible and powerful than ever before
Headquarters: Lausanne, Vaud, Switzerland
Founders: Govinda Upadhyay
Year founded: 2019
Latest funding: $5,000,000 (Seed)
Total funding: $6,010,000
Investors: Gaingels, Y Combinator, Collab Capital, Soma Capital, Venture Kick
What they do: SmartHelio is the revolutionary software that helps solar companies detect and identify faults quickly, enabling them to gain a significant performance boost of up to 3%! Their software uses advanced algorithms and data analysis to pinpoint issues within a solar system, providing real-time insights and recommendations for immediate action. This allows solar companies to quickly and easily resolve any issues, improving the overall performance and efficiency of their solar systems.
Headquarters: Berlin, Berlin, Germany
Founders: Alex Melzer, Gregor Loukidis
Year founded: 2016
Latest funding: $105,795,252 (Series C)
Total funding: $173,970,924
Investors: Energy Impact Partners, GIC, Heartcore Capital, Partech, AENU
What they do: With the zolar online configurator, homeowners can customise the components of their PV system to suit their individual requirements and receive personal assistance from one of our solar energy experts at the same time. zolar’s extensive network of local partner companies takes care of the installation on site. The Berlin-based start-up employs around 200 employees across Germany and pursues the vision of installing a PV system on every roof in the world in order to make private households more independent from the mains grid.
Headquarters: Somerville, Massachusetts, United States
Founders: Eddie Obropta, Forrest Meyen, Nikhil Vadhavkar
Year founded: 2015
Latest funding: $22,000,000 (Series B)
Total funding: $27,200,000
Investors: DCVC, Y Combinator, DNV GL, Struck Capital, Congruent Ventures
What they do: Raptor Maps is the leading provider of lifecycle management software for the solar industry. We support portfolio owners, asset managers, O&M providers, EPC contractors, and independent engineers with software solutions that enable organization and asset efficiency. Raptor Maps enable solar companies to increase performance, reduce costs, and standardize & compare solar PV assets across a portfolio.
Headquarters: São Paulo, Sao Paulo, Brazil
Founders: Fabio Carrara, Vitor Leal
Year founded: 2018
Latest funding: $30,000,000 (Series C)
Total funding: $285,309,943
Investors: SoftBank, Fifth Wall, VEF, International Finance Corporation, Bossanova Investimentos
What they do: Solfacil is a renewable energy investment platform that allows people to invest in solar energy. It allows consumers to switch their monthly cost with electricity into a great investment in a solar system. Consumers benefit from zero downpayments, up to 30% immediate savings, 20+ years of free electricity, and the ability to produce and consume clean energy.
Headquarters: Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, United States
Founders: DR Richardson, Josh Lake
Year founded: 2021
Latest funding: $3,500,000 (Seed)
Total funding: $3,500,000
Investors: Building Ventures, Daniel Gulati, Reuben Munger
What they do: Elephant Energy is building a movement to provide the fastest, simplest, and most affordable way to reduce your carbon footprint.
Headquarters: Crawley, West Sussex, United Kingdom
Founders: Christophe Williams, Nicholas Simmons
Year founded: 2009
Latest funding: $1,219,167 (Series B)
Total funding: $7,966,155
Investors: Barclays Ventures, Nesta, Green Angel Syndicate, ELM Companies, Big Sky Partners
What they do: Naked Energy has developed an innovative hybrid solar technology generating combined heat and power. The versatile, modular design of Virtu® places crystalline photovoltaic cells in an evacuated solar thermal collector.
Headquarters: San Carlos, California, United States
Founders: Kevin Coakley
Year founded: 2012
Latest funding: $250,000,000 (Series D)
Total funding: $297,224,975
Investors: Ford Motor, Fidelity Management and Research Company, BorgWarner, T. Rowe Price, Franklin Templeton Investments
What they do: CelLink is an early-stage hardware startup that is developing a flexible conductive backplane for power electronics, including batteries, light-emitting diodes, wire harnessing, solar cells, and other devices requiring power transmission.
Headquarters: Redwood City, California, United States
Founders: Miles Barr, Richard Lunt, Vladimir Bulović
Year founded: 2011
Latest funding: $30,000,000 (Series B)
Total funding: $74,987,038
Investors: National Science Foundation, Red Cedar Ventures, Hostplus, Safar Partners, Andersen Corporation
What they do: Ubiquitous Energy is the world leader in transparent photovoltaics. Its award-winning technology is the world’s only truly transparent solar product. UE technology harvests solar energy and serves as an invisible, onboard source of electricity for a variety of end products. The thin coating can be applied to the surface of windows glass to provide electricity generation and energy efficiency while remaining visibly indistinguishable from the fully transparent standard windows on the market today.
These eleven startups are doing big things and receiving a lot of buzz and funding from venture capitalists.
If you're looking for similar startups to work with, be sure to sign up for our newsletter where we provide monthly updates on the latest companies worth keeping an eye out for and how to get in touch with their decision makers directly.
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