The Berlin solar start-up Enpal secures further financing of 215 million euros. This was explained by Enpal founder Mario Kohle (38) on Monday in an interview with manager magazin. The new round of financing is being led by the US investment firm TPG’s $7 billion Rise Climate fund and the US investment firm Westley Group, an early Tesla-Investor. Existing investors also participated in the financing, including HV Capital and Softbank’s Vision Fund. The valuation of the unicorn (an unlisted start-up with a valuation of more than one billion dollars) increases to around 2.2 billion euros with the new financing round. That is more than twice as much as in the last financing round in October 2021.
“Sustainably Profitable”
Enpal is currently benefiting massively from the demand for solar systems as a result of the energy crisis. According to the company, sales quadrupled last year to more than 400 million euros. And the start-up is now “sustainably profitable,” founder Kohle told manager magazin. The company has generated a positive cash flow and is no longer dependent on external investors. With the new round, you are only securing “firepower to invest if necessary,” continued Kohle, as well as “expertise” for the intended expansion into other European countries.
The start-up founded in 2017 has in Germany 30,000 customers and claims to install more than 2000 solar energy systems per month. In the manager magazin podcast, Kohle announced last November that sales would be in 2023 “close to a billion” get. An IPO that 2021 has already been considered
, is not planned for the time being. A ranking of the “Financial Times
” Enpal had already been listed as the fastest growing energy company in Europe in March of last year.
Electric car offer planned
In total, Enpal has now collected around 690 million euros from investors. In addition, the start-up had borrowed capital of 855 million euros at the end of last year Blackrock, ING, Unicredit and other investors. The start-up needs the money to buy solar systems, which it then rents out to its customers. Unlike competitors such as Zolar or 1Komma5, Enpal does not offer its customers the systems for sale.
The new capital is also to be invested in the expansion of the product portfolio. In addition to solar systems, Enpal now also offers storage and wall charging stations. In the future, Enpal is to become a “one-stop shop” for renewable energy supplies, “with electricity, heat and mobility,” says Kohle. Enpal even wants to offer its customers electric cars.