Developer of Plug & Play solar panels Supersola has raised an investment of 1 million euros. Led by ROM InWest, Techfund One and several members of The InvestorsClub will be joining the investment as shareholders.

The financing round will serve to further scale up the business, make more products and increase Supersola’s brand awareness. The company expects an increase in turnover of over 500% thanks to the investment.

Expand and scale up
“This will be the year we start growing Europe-wide, and we want our products to be on the shelves of Dutch and French home improvement stores,” says Supersola founder Julius Smith. “Companies from all over Europe have shown an interest, but we are focusing mainly on our home country, the Netherlands, and on France, where almost all home improvement stores (Castorama, E.Leclerc, Brico Depot etc.) have already contacted us because they want to sell our products. Until now, we have had to give a non-committal reply due to a shortage of production capacity and financial resources. This investment allows us to expand our production capacity so we can start to scale up.”

Plug & Play-solution
Supersola offers a self-developed and manufactured solar panel that is ready to use. It takes only three simple steps to connect: (1) unfold, (2) fill the ballast tanks with water (3) plug into an earthed socket. Filling and adding weight with water serves – just like with a parasol base – to keep the panel firmly in place. Draining it makes the Supersola easy to move to a new home, which is extremely convenient for renters, for example. The power the Supersola delivers to your home by means of a standard plug first goes to the appliances that are using energy at that moment. If more power is generated than consumed, the Supersola will supply power back to the grid. You can start with one panel and later expand by connecting multiple panels together.

For tenants as well
“The Supersola offers almost all households the opportunity to make their homes more sustainable and it only takes one solar panel to start. The easy installation requires no technical knowledge, avoids expensive installation and makes it possible to take the panel with you when you move house. This makes the panels suitable for tenants, who are usually not allowed to install fixed solar panels to reduce their energy bills,” says Smith.

Investors
ROM InWest is the regional development company (ROM) for the province of North Holland, whose extensive network can help Supersola continue to expand. Techfundone provides the necessary technical experience and knowledge of how to scale up a company effectively. The InvestorsClub consist mainly of entrepreneurs with a large network, who have set up a company successfully before, so they can support and advise Supersola with their experience. Supersola has previously received services and investments from EIT InnoEnergy, which is supported by the EU and investments from former senior managers of energy companies, Arnoud Kamerbeek and Rolf Fouchier.