From: Mercom India
Solar Ladder, a supply chain platform for solar installation companies, has raised ₹110 million (~$1.3 million) in seed funding from a group of investors to distribute software that helps automate processes for solar installers.
Solar Ladder said that the software will help installers to expand their business.
The company raised funds from Axilor Ventures, Titan Capital, DeVC, Stride Ventures, and angels from Atha Group, NIPHA group, Founder of Mamaearth Varun Alagh, Subin Mitra, and Aditya Bandi of Groyyo, and Deepak Jain, Partner, Bain.
Along with a suite of services that the company offers, Solar Ladder’s software-as-a-service (SaaS) tool provides end-to-end, sales-to-project management and operation and maintenance resources to solar installation companies.
The company’s financing layer offers both short-and-long-term loans. Short-term loans are available for credit on platform purchases, while long-term financing enables solar installers to grow their sales.
Solar Ladder aims to establish a robust marketplace to enable cheaper procurement and provide short-term embedded credit and insurance products to meet the working capital requirements of installers.
Co-founder of Solar Ladder Manan Mehta said, “Solar Ladder aims to facilitate faster scaling for these installers by providing them with appropriate financial, procurement, and software tools. By adopting rooftop solar energy, India has a unique chance to decentralize its power supply and enhance the quality of life for all citizens. The key to seizing this opportunity lies with the solar installers who are striving to implement rooftop solar on a large scale.”
“In the fiercely competitive domain of rooftop solar installation companies, Solar Ladder aspires to equip local installers in every city with state-of-the-art technologies and services to enhance their capabilities,” added Abhishek Pillai, Co-founder of Solar Ladder.
“Solar Ladder is building a digital flywheel in one of the fastest-growing sectors in the economy globally. The India opportunity alone in residential and commercial solar installations is well above $50 billion,” said Prachi Sinha of Axilor Ventures.
According to Mercom’s Q1 2023 Solar Funding and M&A report, Global VC funding for the solar sector in Q1 2023 came to $2.1 billion in 18 deals, a 40% increase compared to $1.5 billion raised in 18 deals in Q4 2022. Year-over-year funding was 75% higher compared to Q1 2022.
