German startup Solarize Energy Solutions raised €4.3 million to improve access to solar power and simplify the delivery and payment process. The greentech startup will now develop its SaaS platform and microgrid operating system whilst expanding internationally.
Europe’s energy transition is at a pivotal point. A combination of rising energy costs, a heightened awareness of the gravity of the climate crisis and the wider geopolitical climate have all demonstrated that moving to renewable, sustainable sources of energy is something that simply can’t wait.
There is a range of renewable energy options out there, the problem is in simplifying access to these options, making them viable for people and businesses across the continent. Aiming to do just that, bringing solar power generated on the roofs of commercial facilities to tenants, is startup Solarize. The German innovators have just secured fresh funding and are set to take their microgrid operating system global.
Frederik Pfisterer, founder and CEO of Solarize: “We are advancing decentralization in the energy sector on a daily basis and are working with our software solution to create a world in which onsite power generation becomes the new normal.”
Funding details
The €4.3 million seed round was led by new investor Point Nine. Existing investors, including Picus Capital, have increased their previous investment as part of this round.
The capital raised as part of the financing round will be used to grow Solarize’s meter-to-cash SaaS platform in Germany and drive expansion into international markets, with the initial focus on Western Europe.
Florian Reichert, Partner and Managing Director of Picus Capital: “The ambition of the founding team and their vision to develop an operating system for decentralized energy markets already convinced us in its pre-seed phase. We are excited to continue to actively support Solarize in their next growth steps and internationalization. We see a clear path of development towards decentralized and sustainable energy production and Solarize is ideally positioned to become the leading software solution for this.”
Pushing forward the energy transition
Founded in Germany in 2020, Solarize has been built with a clear mission: to make the adoption of renewable energy simpler.
For homes across Europe, accessing solar power generated on the roofs of commercial facilities has been a pipe dream – generally because of the complexity in delivering the power generated locally to multiple tenants. As a result, most of the electricity is fed directly into the grid, which tenants then have to pay an expensive price for.
Solarize is aiming to change this with its SaaS solution which works in tandem with smart metering systems. With the solution, locally produced electricity can be delivered directly to any number of tenants in business parks and is accounted for and billed in an audit-proof manner.
With Solarize’s services, real estate owners get involved in electricity production and transmission, at the same time upgrading their properties according to ESG criteria and realizing attractive returns. For tenants, electricity from their own generation is also significantly cheaper than grid electricity.
Solarize is currently implementing more than 30 projects across Germany. Over the course of these implementations, the Solarize team has tripled in size during 2022. The capital raised will be used to grow Solarize’s meter-to-cash SaaS platform in Germany and drive expansion internationally.
The company is mission-driven and motivated with a goal to produce electricity locally in all commercial areas by 2030 – supported by the microgrid operation system. For the team, wherever there is grid parity (meaning the cost of transporting electricity exceeds local production cost), there is a market opportunity.
Pawel Chudzinski, Partner at Point Nine: “The time for solar energy is now. The costs have dropped massively and the advantages of generating solar energy locally are becoming more and more obvious every day. A lack of modern tools to easily manage, measure, bill, report and pay taxes on locally generated energy is one of the barriers to adoption for large commercial real estate owners. We see the Solarize team as extremely well-positioned to develop these tools and accelerate the adoption of locally generated solar energy in multi-tenant commercial settings.”