Tech-enabled rooftop solar solutions providing firm Freyr Energy said on Monday that it has raised ₹58 crore in its Series B funding round led by EDFI ElectriFI (Electrification Financing Initiative), an EU-funded impact investment facility managed by EDFI Management Company.
Solar energy companies design and install equipment that catches solar energy and converts it to electricity. Their major goal is to transition away from fossil fuels such as natural gas and oil and towards renewable energy sources like the sun and wind. This shift will undoubtedly be difficult and time-consuming.
Solar capacity is predicted to rise further in the next years, topping a terawatt of worldwide solar power output by 2023. However, geopolitical tensions and trade uncertainties have marginally hindered solar development.
According to Renewables 2019, a report published in November 2019 by the International Energy Agency, renewables are expected to supply nearly 33 percent of the world’s electricity by 2024, with solar photovoltaic (PV) accounting for nearly 60 percent (or at least 697 gigatonnes) of expected growth. Onshore wind (309 GW), hydropower (121 GW), offshore wind (43 GW), and biofuels (41 GW) follow.
EDFI ElectriFI invested close to ₹24 crore in Freyr Energy. The rest was from Schneider Electric Energy Asia Fund (SEEAA), Lotus Capital LLC, Maybright Ventures, and VT Capital, the company said in a statement.
Freyr intends to utilize the funding to expand its product development and marketing teams to maintain its fast growth. Saurabh Marda and Radhika Choudary started the Hyderabad-based firm in 2014 as a full-service solar systems integration and solutions provider. It mainly serves retail consumers, such as homes and micro, small, and medium-sized businesses.
“The solar market for the retail sector in India is highly fragmented and disorganized. In this context, we do see an opportunity to team up with Freyr Energy in bringing solar solutions combined with technology and consumer financing to allow retail customers to transition seamlessly to solar power and reduce their electricity bills,” said Rodrigo Madrazo, chief executive officer of EDFI Management.
Previously, the business received 27 crores in a Series A round of fundraising led by the Netherlands-based impact investment group C4D Partners, as well as seed capital from another Dutch investment firm, Doen Participaties.
Meanwhile, ElectriFI, run by EDFI Management Company, is a European Union-funded investment institution. It invests in early-stage private enterprises and initiatives that improve developing nations’ access to and supply of sustainable energy. So far, the fund’s corpus of more than €275 million has been distributed across 46 projects in 22 countries.
