Otovo, a Norway-based residential solar installer, has secured €30 million (~$34 million) in funding to accelerate its solar expansion across six new markets over the next year.
The funding round was led by solar investor Nordics Axel Johnson the existing investors Agder Energy Ventures, Akershus Energi, KLP, and Nysno.
Otovo’s Chief Executive Officer, Andreas Thorsheim, commented: “We are increasingly confident in our ability to launch in new markets. Poland, Italy, and Germany were launched in 12 months. We are present in seven countries and have six to eight additional attractive markets in our sights for the next year, year-and-a-half.”
The company plans to use the new funds to achieve more projects across the continent, bringing clean energy to European households.
Otovo operates in seven markets – France, Germany, Italy, Norway, Poland, Spain, and Sweden and serves more than 12,000 customers and expects to add 10,000 new customers in 2022.
In November 2021, Otovo completed a private placement that fetched NOK 358 million (~$42.3 million) to expand its business plan and to reach cash flow break-even levels in the geographies where it currently operates. These include Spain, France, Poland, Italy, Sweden, and Norway.
According to Mercom’s recently published Q4 2021 solar funding and M&A report, total corporate funding (including venture capital funding, public market, and debt financing) for the battery storage, smart grid, and energy efficiency sectors in 2021 was up by 140%, with $19.5 billion compared to $8.1 billion in 2020.
Earlier in February, Sunvigo, a Cologne-based solar system installer, raised €15 million (~$17 million) in the latest financing round. Sparta Capital and Eneco led the funding round with Ecosummit, High-Tech Grunderfonds (HTGF), and Ubermorgen Ventures. Deutsche Kreditbank AG (DKB) has provided a further €5 million (~$5.7 million) in debt capital. Sunvigo offers homeowners an electricity contract, including a solar system. The company installs and operates the solar panels at the customer homes, while they pay only for the electricity.
