Rooftop Solar Solutions Startup Solarsquare Bags $40 Mn Funding In Series B Round

Rooftop solar solutions firm SolarSquare has raised $40 million (about INR 340 crore) in a Series B investment round led by Lightspeed.

SolarSquare Energy, founded in 2015 by Shreya Mishra, Neeraj Jain, and Nikhil Nahar, began as a B2B rooftop solar solutions firm before expanding into the B2C segment in 2021. SolarSquare currently works as a full-service residential solar business, managing everything from design to installation, government permissions, financing, and maintenance.

Lightrock joined the round alongside current investors Elevation Capital, Chris Sacca’s Lowercarbon, Nithin Kamath’s Rainmatter, and Gruhas Proptech.

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The cleantech startup intends to use the new funding to extend its operations to 50 cities throughout India, up from 20 currently, hire people, and engage in brand development. A portion of the money will also be used to strengthen its technology arm by developing an asset management tech stack for remote monitoring and diagnostics of residential solar installations.

The business will invest extensively in developing a cutting-edge asset management technology stack for remote monitoring and diagnostics of home solar installations.

“We aim to increase solar usage in India, which currently only accounts for 1% of homes. And that’s why we’re the first firm in India to offer rooftop solar with a guarantee of savings, taking responsibility for not only installation but also solar performance afterward,” said SolarSquare cofounder and CEO Mishra.

This comes weeks after news surfaced that SolarSquare was in talks to raise $30 million in a new round headed by Lightspeed for a valuation of $130 million, up 2.7 times its previous valuation of $47.7 million.

The investment comes months after the SolarSquare received $4.2 million from Zerodha Technology and Nikhil Kamath’s Gruhas Proptech.

Including the current round, SolarSquare has raised roughly $60 million in funding to date. It is also supported by Meesho founders Vidit Atrey and Sanjeev Barnwal, UrbanLadder’s Ashish Goyal, and Paytm’s Vijay Shekhar Sharma, among others.

Since its debut, SolarSquare claims to have “acquired” 20,000 households and 200+ cooperative housing organizations as customers nationwide.

On the financial front, SolarSquare’s net loss increased 275% to INR 30 Cr in fiscal year 2022-23 (FY23) from INR 8 Cr the prior year. Operating revenue increased 32% to INR 107 crore during the fiscal year under review, up from INR 81 crore in FY22.

The development comes at a time when rising demand and adoption of green energy products is propelling the country’s cleantech startup scene. In 2023, India saw the launch of more than a dozen cleantech and climate tech-focused funds.

Exposome, a cleantech firm, raised INR 15 crore in a pre-Series A investment round headed by Colossa Ventures. Kazam raised $8 million in August through a Series A3 funding round headed by Vertex Ventures Southeast Asia and India.