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Sweden's SunRoof raises €13.5M in extension round funding

Megan Hernbroth
Illustration of a house made completely out of solar panels.

Illustration: Aïda Amer/Axios

SunRoof, a Swedish startup that makes energy-producing solar roofing, raised €13.5 million (~$14.6 million) in extension funding.

Why it matters: Falling costs and increasing government incentives are pushing investors to rethink the residential solar market, which has been dominated by a handful of incumbents.

Details: World Fund, Nordic Alpha Partners and L&G Capital participated in the all-equity round and will join the company's advisory board. L&G Capital will also get a board observer seat, SunRoof CEO Lech Kaniuk tells Axios.

  • Klima Energy Transition led the initial €15 million raise in September.

State of play: Costs associated with photovoltaic solar panels have decreased rapidly in the past five years, which has contributed to an increase in demand for residential installations.

  • Most installations in the U.S. and Europe are mounted on top of existing roofs, which helps keep the panels cool, but comes with a set of limitations for where and how they can be installed that can lead to less energy generation.
  • World Fund, a European climate-focused fund, calculated that SunRoof will contribute to 53% of all solar-installation deployments in its markets, with a cannibalization rate of 47%, meaning every other installation goes to a customer that would have chosen not to install solar panels.

How it works: Kaniuk's brother, a construction engineer, started SunRoof when his customers started requesting more aesthetically pleasing solar installations that could also support EV charging and heat pumps.

  • The result was roofing material made out of traditional solar panels that can be installed during renovations or new construction without the need for specialty PV panel installers.
  • Over time, SunRoof will also offer customers software to track their energy use and generation with the goal of developing a virtual power plant market for homeowners to trade excess energy, Kaniuk says.
  • He expects the VPP market to begin operating in Germany, Sweden and Poland in 2024.
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