Vänersborg-based startup SunRoof has collected €13.5 million extension from three European leading climate tech investors World Fund, Nordic Alpha Partners and Legal & General Capital. The startup builds powerful 2-in-1 solar roofs and innovative façades that generate electricity, replacing the need for a traditional roof. With this new investment, SunRoof’s total growth round now amounts to €28.5m. The funds will be used to support the company’s expansion plans in Europe and the United States.
SunRoof is a Swedish startup revolutionising the capture and use of renewable energy through its solar roof system. It delivers the most powerful building-integrated solar roofs on the market by offering building and homeowners a complete, end-to-end energy management system. By combining this innovative technology, with market-leading energy data logging software, SunRoof is on a mission to build the largest, smartest network of connected, solar homes in the world.
At the heart of SunRoof’s platform are 2-in-1 solar roofs and innovative façades that generate electricity without having to use traditional top-mounted photovoltaic modules. By combining traditional materials with state-of-the-art energy-capturing technology, SunRoof not only makes the most productive solar roofs, per square metre, anywhere in the world, but it is able to keep costs low. This is all while reducing the company’s carbon footprint, using fewer resources and materials than traditional roof and PV installations, and with an aesthetic design that pleases and delights customers.
In addition to its roofs and facades, the SunRoof system comes with energy storage and a digital platform where SunRoof customers can track every stage of their roof’s construction – from design to build to delivery. This includes being able to see how the roofs will look through AR. Once installed, customers then get complete oversight of their energy production and consumption via SunRoof’s energy app.
The new funding follows a year of significant growth for the company – up 300% year on year and the team has increased 13-fold since January 2020, to more than 150 people Europe-wide. SunRoof now has customers in Sweden, Germany, and Poland, along with pilots in the US, and will use the funding to continue to grow and consolidate its leading position in existing markets. This latest funding extension takes SunRoof’s total raised, since launch, to €35 million following a first closing in 2022 led by Klima Energy Transition, and investors including Inovo VC, SMOK Ventures, Alfabeat and Level2 Ventures.
Serving the world’s soaring solar demand
Demand for solar panels is soaring across the world, up 30% this year alone, but no more so than in Europe as a result of the Russian war in Ukraine and the need to source independent, secure energy suppliers. As well, governments are catching up to the need for more renewable energy sources, with the European Union set to make solar panels mandatory on all new buildings from 2029. Yet the wider sector is struggling to keep up with demand, with a lack of skilled installers to serve the growing customer base across the continent.
SunRoof is tackling this challenge in two ways. First, it is building its own end-to-end software platform that covers the whole journey – from customer orders to operations and delivery. Using this, it will create predictive models that can anticipate demand and ensure it always has the right stock at the right time. This tool will be fully launched in early 2023. This platform in particular will improve efficiencies and enable SunRoof to scale more effectively across its markets, as well as enable its expansion. And secondly, its technology is unique in that it doesn’t rely on PV installers to install its roofs; instead, it is a similar process to installing a normal roof so it is able to train roofers in its markets and provide additional skills to them.
It’s this combined approach that attracted World Fund, Europe’s leading climate investor, to back the company. World Fund backs entrepreneurs building climate tech solutions that have the potential to save at least 100 megatonnes of CO2 every year. General Partner Tim Schumacher will join SunRoof’s board whilst Investment Associate Victoria McIvor will be an observer.
The smartest network of connected, solar homes worldwide
The company was founded by Karol Kaniuk and is led by his co-founder and brother, CEO Lech Kaniuk. Lech is a serial entrepreneur, having previously founded Online Pizza Group (which later merged with Delivery Hero), PizzaPortal and iTaxi, and the pair is backed by an experienced management team which includes co-founder of Jumia Travel and HotelOnline.co, Marek Zmysłowski, entrepreneur and former Google executive, Rafał Plutecki and founder of nationwide logistics company Expert and lawyer, Martyn Szczepankowski.
SunRoof also recently strengthened its leadership team with the appointment of Piotr Przybysz as Chief Operating Officer in December, who will drive forward the next stage of expansion plans in 2023 and beyond. With Przybysz, SunRoof gains an operational specialist with more than 20 years of experience in process management in production, supply chain, logistics, quality control and digitization of operational processes.
“In Europe, we’re facing two crises: the climate and the energy crises. SunRoof is enabling consumers, businesses and governments to access and benefit from independent, regenerative energy and end the overreliance on fossil fuels. I’m delighted to have this brilliant consortium of investors on board, who collectively are the best possible combination of funds for SunRoof at this growth stage. Thanks to this group of brilliant climate investors with resources to provide hands-on support and connections to their respective networks, I truly believe we will be able to accelerate our growth even further and will be well-positioned to rapidly conduct our international expansion at the end of 2023,” said Lech Kaniuk, Co-Founder and CEO of SunRoof.
“Solar panels are one of the most effective tools we have to pioneer a regenerative future and combat the climate crisis yet there is still a lot of reticence from prospective customers, not to mention the supply chain challenges and installation crisis which are holding back the industry. SunRoof’s solution is the kind of thinking we need to tackle the climate crisis and prevent megatonnes of C02e from entering the atmosphere,” said Tim Schumacher, General Partner at World Fund.
“Due to its efficient core product servicing a large and fast-growing market favoured by non-cyclical tailwinds and a digitised market approach which has already proven successful in different markets, Sunroof is poised to convert its current regional front runner position into becoming a European category leader in the booming BIPV space,” said Rasmus Lund, Investment Partner at Nordic Alpha Partners.
“We have worked intensively with Lech and his team on refining the strategy. Sunroof has an outstanding team capable of outperforming the market based on the differentiated growth strategy and a highly data-driven expansion playbook,” said Adam Erritzøe, Value Creation Partner at Nordic Alpha Partners.
“Legal & General Capital is investing in the energy transition to support the scale up of innovative businesses that deliver solutions to reduce carbon emissions throughout the economy, and over the past six years, our investments have focused on decarbonising power, transportation and the built environment. We are delighted to invest in SunRoof, a business bringing innovation in design and customer experience to rooftops across Europe, to support homeowners and businesses in their transition from fossil fuel generated power. We look forward to working with our new partner as SunRoof accelerates its growth into new markets globally,” said John Bromley, Managing Director – Clean Energy Strategy, Legal & General Capital.
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