Solar startup Sunvigo raises Euro 15 million

Colo­gne — With Eneco Ventures and Sparta Capi­tal, two estab­lished funds from the rene­wa­ble energy sector are inves­t­ing in Sunvigo’s revo­lu­tio­nary busi­ness model. Sparta and Eneco, which are provi­ding the bulk of the new finan­cing, are inves­t­ing a total of €10 million toge­ther with exis­ting inves­tors such as Ecosum­mit, High-Tech Grün­der­fonds (HTGF) and Über­mor­gen Ventures. Deut­sche Kredit­bank AG (DKB) is provi­ding a further 5 million euros in debt capi­tal to finance the PV systems. While the current energy crisis has driven both young and estab­lished compa­nies into insol­vency, Sunvigo has been able to secure new invest­ments and even protect its custo­mers from rising elec­tri­city prices.

Since its foun­ding in 2020, Sunvigo has alre­ady provi­ded hundreds of custo­mers with easy access to afforda­ble solar power. In the first year after its foun­da­tion, the custo­mer base increased more than tenfold.

Entry of two renow­ned inves­tors sets the course for strong growth

Eneco Ventures and Sparta Capi­tal are now inves­t­ing in Sunvigo’s contin­ued growth and vision. “We believe there is a large market for Sunvigo’s product. We also see many poten­tial syner­gies, for exam­ple with Eneco’s subsi­diary Licht­Blick, the largest green power provi­der in Germany,” said Hans W. Cool, Invest­ment Direc­tor of Eneco Ventures.

“Sunvigo offers a trus­ted solu­tion for the tran­si­tion to a low-carbon world. This part­ner­ship is an important mile­stone for Sparta and we look forward to support­ing Sunvigo’s manage­ment team in the years to come,” said Guil­laume Sarlat, Head of Sustaina­bi­lity Invest­ment at Sparta Capital

“Through Sparta, we are able to work with one of the leading inves­tors in this field and gain access to inter­na­tio­nal capi­tal markets to expand finan­cing for our solar systems,” on the inves­tor selec­tion Dr. Michael Peters, foun­der of Sunvigo and solar expert (center photo).

In addi­tion, exis­ting inves­tors Ecosum­mit, HTGF, Über­mor­gen Ventures and a family office are again parti­ci­pa­ting in the finan­cing round, thus confir­ming their confi­dence in the solar energy provi­der. DKB is also incre­asing the finan­cing volume for the solar plants by a further 5 million euros in borro­wed capital.

Digi­tiza­tion, expan­sion of the Green Power Commu­nity and streng­thening of the Sunvigo team

Foun­ders Bastian Bauwens, Dr. Michael Peters and Dr. Vigen Niko­gos­ian will use the fresh capi­tal to further expand the Green Power Commu­nity, improve the custo­mer expe­ri­ence, espe­ci­ally through digi­ta­liza­tion, and further opti­mize inter­nal proces­ses. Sunvigo also wants to expand in terms of person­nel. The company now employs over 50 people and plans to grow stron­gly in all areas this year. In the future, Sunvigo will network its plants in virtual power plants, making solar power from the Sunvigo Commu­nity available to all elec­tri­city custo­mers. The team can make good use of the rein­force­ment, because the demand for solar energy is huge.

“In recent months, demand has increased rapidly. Many people are over­whel­med by the current sharp rise in elec­tri­city prices and are wonde­ring what they can do about the rising costs. Swit­ching to solar energy provi­des a hedge against rising prices. But until now, you had to put up with a lot of comple­xity for that. With Sunvigo one can have now finally both — protec­tion against rising prices by the solar plant on the own roof and nevert­hel­ess the power supply remains as simple as with a clas­si­cal elec­tri­city contract, explains Dr. Michael Peters, foun­der of Sunvigo and solar expert.

About Sunvigo

Sunvigo is revo­lu­tio­ni­zing the use of solar power for homeow­ners. Unlike PV system sellers or renters, the company is an energy provi­der and offers homeow­ners a power contract that includes solar. This means: Sunvigo installs and opera­tes the solar system. The custo­mer only pays for the elec­tri­city consu­med and does not have to worry about the costly opera­tion and finan­cing of the solar system. If desi­red, solu­ti­ons for battery storage and char­ging devices for elec­tric cars can be inte­gra­ted into the elec­tri­city contract. For more info, visit www.sunvigo.de. Sunvigo is funded by leading inves­tors, inclu­ding High-Tech Grün­der­fonds, Über­mor­gen Ventures, Eneco Ventures and Sparta Capital.

About DKB

Deut­sche Kredit­bank AG (DKB), head­quar­te­red in Berlin, is part of the BayernLB Group and serves busi­ness and private custo­mers with its more than 4,500 employees. With total assets of 126.9 billion euros, it is one of the top 20 banks in Germany. More than 4.8 million people are DKB custo­mers. They conduct their banking tran­sac­tions conve­ni­ently and secu­rely online. DKB indus­try experts provide perso­nal support to busi­ness custo­mers at 25 DKB loca­ti­ons throug­hout Germany. As a part­ner to compa­nies and muni­ci­pa­li­ties, the bank specia­li­zed early on in promi­sing sectors in Germany: Housing, health­care, care, educa­tion, agri­cul­ture, infra­struc­ture and rene­wa­ble ener­gies. DKB is one of the market leaders in many of these sectors. DKB atta­ches great importance to sustainable action: As a #geld­ver­bes­se­rer, it ther­e­fore focu­ses on a sustainable lending busi­ness. www.dkb.de

About Eneco Ventures

Eneco is a leading energy supplier in Europe and consists of a group of compa­nies opera­ting mainly in the field of rene­wa­ble energy and inno­va­tion. Toge­ther with its custo­mers, part­ners and more than 3,000 employees, Eneco is pursuing the goal of provi­ding sustainable energy for all and beco­ming climate neutral as early as 2035. Eneco Ventures is the invest­ment arm of Eneco that invests in promi­sing young compa­nies driving the energy transition.

About Sparta Capi­tal Management

Sparta Capi­tal Manage­ment Ltd. was foun­ded by Franck Tuil, a former mana­ger at Elliott Manage­ment Corpo­ra­tion. The first fund was laun­ched in Septem­ber 2021 with initial capi­tal commit­ments of over $500 million. It is a global multi-stra­­tegy fund that invests in both public and private markets and across the capi­tal struc­ture, with a focus on finan­cing the energy transition.

About About Tomor­row Ventures

Über­mor­gen Ventures is a Swiss invest­ment company that supports early-stage start­ups in climate tech and decar­bo­niza­tion across Europe. The firm’s funda­men­tal invest­ment hypo­the­sis is that there is an urgent need to deve­lop solu­ti­ons to the climate crisis and that this repres­ents a tremen­dous busi­ness oppor­tu­nity for start­ups through the decar­bo­niza­tion of products, proces­ses, services or busi­ness models. Über­mor­gen Ventures is led by four Mana­ging Part­ners with a strong back­ground and track record in early-stage startup finan­cing and aims to build a port­fo­lio of compa­nies that save more than one million tons of CO2 annually.

About High-Tech Gründerfonds

The seed inves­tor High-Tech Grün­der­fonds (HTGF) finan­ces tech­no­logy start-ups with growth poten­tial. With a volume of around EUR 900 million spread across three funds and an inter­na­tio­nal part­ner network, HTGF has supported more than 650 start-ups since 2005. His team of expe­ri­en­ced invest­ment mana­gers and start-up experts supports the young compa­nies with know-how, entre­pre­neu­rial spirit and passion. The focus is on high-tech start-ups in the fields of digi­tal tech, indus­trial tech, life scien­ces, chemis­try and rela­ted busi­ness areas. More than €4 billion in capi­tal has been inves­ted in the HTGF port­fo­lio by exter­nal inves­tors in more than 1,800 follow-on finan­cing rounds to date. In addi­tion, the fund has alre­ady successfully sold shares in more than 150 companies.