Above, a solar data, and analytics company, secured a £2.4 million (~$3.2 million) investment from the Clean Growth Fund, the UK venture capital fund that invests in early-stage clean energy technology companies.
Above, founded in 2016, works with solar energy companies to deliver solar project data and analytics through its interactive web-based platform, SolarGain. The company’s technology digitizes solar assets, optimizing the operational efficiency and performance of ground-mounted and roof-mounted solar PV assets.
This financing is the Clean Growth Fund’s first investment in the UK solar industry. “With an established presence in the global solar industry, Above is in a very strong position to expand and grow its operations. With the deployment of solar forecast to increase globally by 165GW every year over the next three years, efficiency in condition monitoring and asset maintenance is becoming increasingly important for the industry to increase yield factors. Above’s growth prospects are exciting,” said Susannah McClintock, Investment Director at Clean Growth Fund.
Will Hitchcock, founder and Chief Executive of Above Surveying, said: “We are delighted that the Clean Growth Fund has chosen to invest in our company; it underlines our confidence in our innovation and vision for how technology will transform the global solar industry. We are at the heart of the digitalization transformation now underway within a rapidly growing industry, a transformation which is critical in ensuring the rapid and sustainable deployment of solar across the world.”
As part of this funding round, Jeremy Elden, Chairman of Above, has made an additional investment in the company.
According to Mercom’s recently published Q4 2021 solar funding and M&A report, global venture capital and private equity funding in the solar sector in 2021 came to $4.5 billion, a 281% increase compared to the $1.2 billion in 2020. This is the highest amount of VC funding for the solar sector since 2010.
Earlier this month, Austin-based solar software platform, Bodhi secured $4 million in a new financing round led by Clean Energy Ventures, a venture capital firm funding early-stage climate tech innovation. The company plans to use the fresh funds to expand its team across engineering, sales and marketing, and operations while accelerating its product development roadmap.
