British solar heat and power scale-up Naked Energy announce that it has secured £17m of new equity as part of a Series B first close to supercharge its global expansion and the adoption of its cutting-edge solutions to decarbonise heat. The round was led by E.ON Energy Infrastructure Solutions (E.ON EIS), a provider of integrated, sustainable energy solutions for cities and industries. E.ON EIS is part of the E.ON Group, one of Europe’s largest operators of energy networks and infrastructure, and a strategic partner to Naked Energy.
The partnership was initiated by E.ON Group Innovation through the global accelerator programme Free Electrons, in which E.ON’s innovation team identified the advanced Naked Energy technology.
The strategic partnership was founded in October 2023 and enables the partners to continuously expand the collaboration and scale the solution. The series was supported by co-investment from existing investor Barclays through its Sustainable Impact Capital.
The investment is a strong endorsement of Naked Energy’s growth plans, enabling the company to accelerate the international distribution of its award-winning solar heat and power technology with the adoption of innovative new business models.
Naked Energy’s Virtu solar collectors have a modular design and the world’s highest energy density solar technology, proven to be up to four times more impactful at offsetting CO2 emissions than conventional solar PV panels.
E.ON EIS will benefit from access to the innovative Virtu product range for its commercial and industrial customers. The relationship between E.ON and Naked Energy will facilitate the provision of Naked Energy’s technology through a Heat-As-A-Service model to a global client base. The two companies are already working on a pipeline of projects across multiple territories.
Naked Energy has sold its Virtu product range to more than 20 countries and is well-established in the UK and Europe, having signed deals with industrial and commercial clients, such as IHG Hotels & Resorts and Mandarin Oriental Hyde Park, London.
The IEA Renewables Report 2023 projects that the share of heat from renewable energy will increase by more than 40% worldwide from 2023 to 2028. As a result of the deal, Naked Energy is well-positioned to capitalise on this growing opportunity for renewable heat technologies.
The company has manufacturing bases in the UK and Europe, and is scheduled to start manufacturing in Dallas, Texas later this year in partnership with its US distribution partner ELM Solar.
Christophe Williams, CEO of Naked Energy, said: “The first wave of investment of our Series B round is transformative for our journey and a great step in the wider movement to decarbonise heat.
“It’s clear that both E.ON and Barclays share our sense of urgency to decarbonise heat. Heating takes up over half of all energy consumed globally, and as the demand for renewable heat continues to rise, we’re committed more than ever to supporting the commercial and industrial sectors in their transition away from natural gas.
“Heat decarbonisation presents a huge economic opportunity. With investment from such major industry players, we’re confident we can capitalise on this global shift and look forward to other like-minded investors joining us on our journey to ‘change energy for good’.”
Daniel Joisten, Head of Innovation Commercialization at E.ON Energy Infrastructure Solutions, added:
“Investing in Naked Energy has been a great decision for E.ON. In just one year, we’ve progressed from scouting and assessing their capabilities through E.ON Group Innovation as part of the prestigious Free Electrons Program, to a test installation at E.ONs Silicon Valley Garage and now on to a strategic partnership with significant potential for E.ON´s Energy Infrastructure Business.
“Naked Energy’s solutions have distinctive and convincing value propositions. We will utilise them to help our customers, in industries such as Food & Beverage and Hospitality, to decarbonize their businesses profitably. We are looking forward to scaling our joint business activities, both from an E.ON perspective and on Naked Energy’s board of directors.”
Gavin Chapman, Co-Head of Principal Investments at Barclays, said: “To reach net zero, we need to rapidly scale new, innovative technologies to help reduce emissions in the sectors that are most difficult to decarbonise – particularly our homes and buildings. As we make our follow-on investment today, we’re excited to see and support Naked Energy’s continued growth and further deployment of their technology, supercharged by the partnership with E.ON.”
Piper Sandler served as exclusive corporate finance advisor to Naked Energy on the transaction. The second close is expected to complete before the end of September 2024.
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