SolarSquare has raised $40 million in a spherical led by Lightspeed in what’s the largest enterprise spherical in India’s photo voltaic sector.
The Mumbai-based startup bootstrapped and was worthwhile promoting to company clients for 5 years earlier than switching to residential photo voltaic in 2021. Now it has scaled to powering over 20,000 properties and 200 housing societies throughout India, and is India’s largest operator of distributed photo voltaic belongings.
“That is the chance of a lifetime,” Shreya Mishra, co-founder and chief government of SolarSquare, advised TechCrunch in an interview. “It’s not simply an business that’s rising superfast — it’s the place revenue and function align.”
Not like others within the house, SolarSquare ensures returns on photo voltaic investments and compensates clients if programs don’t ship, making its full-stack service — designing and promoting the programs, putting in them to the patron’s rooftop, securing allow facilitation, financing and providing after-sales providers — way more compelling. The general value of shopping for and having the system put in averages about $1,500.
“If we promise you’ll get 5,000 items of electrical energy from photo voltaic however you find yourself getting solely 4,000 items, we can pay you again for the steadiness 1,000 items,” Mishra stated. “This makes photo voltaic like a set deposit for purchasers as a result of return on funding is assured.”
Due to latest incentives supplied by the federal government, photo voltaic curiosity has surged lately. The push is important as solely about 1% of Indian properties have presently adopted photo voltaic, in comparison with nations like Australia, the place 35% properties have photo voltaic, and Brazil, the place greater than 5% properties have photo voltaic.
“Two years again, individuals solely had textbook information — they realized in class that photo voltaic is one thing good,” Mishra stated. “They didn’t know the way a lot it value, they didn’t find out about authorities subsidies, they didn’t know that the payback interval is actually 4 to five years.”
India has set an formidable goal of reaching 500 gigawatts of renewable power capability by 2030, with solar energy anticipated to contribute about 280 gigawatts to this purpose. To speed up photo voltaic adoption, Modi’s authorities has launched a number of incentives, together with a production-linked incentive scheme price $3 billion to spice up home photo voltaic manufacturing, 40% fundamental customs obligation on photo voltaic modules to guard native business, and viability hole funding for utilities to construct photo voltaic infrastructure in distant areas.
The federal government additionally affords accelerated depreciation advantages, earnings tax holidays for photo voltaic tasks, and capital subsidies starting from 20% to 70% for rooftop photo voltaic installations, whereas additionally mandating renewable buy obligations for state utilities to make sure regular demand for solar energy. SolarSquare helps its clients determine and avail the advantages of the federal government subsidies, Mishra stated.
“India is the primary nation on the earth to make net-metering, this change of electrical energy, a shopper proper that makes economics extra viable as you’re in a position to freely commerce electrical energy with the grid,” she stated.
The demand for photo voltaic is slowly extending effectively past main cities. “Not like quick-commerce or companies that concentrate on prime 10-15 cities, photo voltaic is definitely a nationwide, Bharat kind of enterprise,” Mishra stated. “Folks in Tier 1, Tier 2, Tier 3 cities in addition to rural India — in all places there are properties, individuals will wish to go photo voltaic.”
SolarSquare will deploy the contemporary funds to develop from 20 to 50 cities, however is taking a cautious strategy. “As entrepreneurs, we’re not in a enterprise of ‘transfer quick and break issues,’” she stated. “Once you’re doing a severe product like photo voltaic, taking part in with individuals’s life and security, there needs to be that quantity of seriousness.”
For smaller cities, the startup plans to work with native companions whereas sustaining high quality management.
The timing works in SolarSquare’s favor. India has made net-metering a shopper proper and reduce down allow processing from months to days.
Lightspeed led the funding, a Collection B financing spherical, with Lightrock becoming a member of, alongside current traders Elevation Capital, Chris Sacca’s Lowercarbon, and Nithin Kamath’s Rainmatter. The startup, which had raised $19.5 million beforehand, may even spend money on know-how to construct higher programs for monitoring and managing residential photo voltaic installations remotely.
“We’re thrilled to be partnering with Photo voltaic Sq., which has quick emerged as probably the most trusted residential photo voltaic model in India,” stated Lightspeed associate Rahul Taneja in an announcement. “The clear power transition has moved from ESG PowerPoint decks to the customers ‘ properties and Photo voltaic Sq. is effectively on its solution to making #hargharsolar.”
The take care of SolarSquare is the newest from Lightspeed in India, the place it has invested in 20 startups — together with placing massive checks in startups together with Zepto, Physics Wallah and Pocket FM — in 2024.
