SunRoof closed a €2 million seed round from top European VCs to give Tesla Roofs run for its money

SunRoof, a Swedish-Polish start-up developing fully solar 2-in-1 roofs and facades as well as solutions to support smart energy management, raised €2 million in a late seed round for product development and global expansion.

The round was led by SMOK Ventures and next the startup has extended its financing round with LT Capital, EIT InnoEnergy, FD Growth Capital and KnowledgeHub, as well as local business angels. This is the first financing round in which VC funds have participated.

Behind SunRoof is a team of accomplished Global Tech Entrepreneurs. Lech Kaniuk (co-founder and CEO) is the man behind the success of brands such as Delivery Hero, PizzaPortal, and iTaxi. Marek Zmyslowski cofounded Jumia Travel (listed on NYSE as part of Jumia Group – Africa’s largest eCommerce platform) and HotelOnline.co (hospitality software). Rafal Plutecki is an ex-Google senior executive, YPO Gold Chairman, founder of Internet Technologies (one of Poland’s first ISPs, acquired by GTS in 2000).

I couldn’t imagine a better moment for launching a new phase of SunRoof. I am convinced that renewable energies will soon become a standard around the world. We will use the funding from this round to develop solar technology and a digital platform for monitoring and efficiently managing our customer’s electricity needs. We are currently creating a unique energy marketplace based on the Redlogger that we acquired over a month ago. We are also strengthening our position in Sweden, Poland, and Norway, and are introducing SunRoof to a number of European markets. Our ambition is to become a European counterpart of Tesla

– said Lech Kaniuk, SunRoof CEO.

SunRoof is growing rapidly

Established in Sweden in 2013, SunRoof’s goal is to develop a solar roof with a modern design that would replace the traditional roof and produce ecological electricity without having to install photovoltaic panels. While the first years of the startup were spent mostly on building and testing its proprietary technology, SunRoof gained momentum in late 2018 after joining of Lech Kaniuk, who then brought on board Marek Zmyslowski and Rafal Plutecki in 2019.

Thanks to the team enforcements, SunRoof recorded a 500% YoY growth. As of today, the company has built more than 100 roofs in Sweden, Norway, and Poland and keeps setting new trends for smart roof solutions.

Unprecedented fundraising in the middle of COVID-19 Lockdown

At the difficult time of the coronavirus pandemic, SunRoof was looking for investors to double down on growth plans, instead of slowing down like most of the industry players. With a crisis looming on the horizon, VC funds adopted a more cautious approach to new investments than ever before. However, this did not clip the wings of promising start-ups run by experienced and mutually complementary teams.

A number of top VCs saw potential in SunRoof and very quickly decided to get involved. The round was oversubscribed with more available cash committed than the startup initially wanted to raise. That gave the founders the comfort of choosing the best fitted VC, considering its background and added value, not only the money itself. The first investor, SMOK Ventures, made a binding proposal within just an hour of the first pitch deck having been sent. The whole process took place by means of telecommunication, without face-to-face meetings, and contracts were signed electronically.

The moment I learned that Lech Kaniuk is working on a new project I took my phone and called him right away. The guys couldn’t believe how fast our investment process has been. SunRoof is a special project, created by three legendary founders with a big vision to bring solar energy to millions of households worldwide. I believe that in a few years the company will become one of the most recognized brands from Central and Eastern Europe and I’m very proud to be the first supporter on the VC side

– said Borys Musielak, Founding Partner at SMOK Ventures.

Investors believe that renewable energy sources will dominate the energy market in the near future, especially as climate change drives international actions to work towards a sustainable economy. These efforts are best demonstrated by the EU’s European Green Deal, which seeks to make Europe climate-neutral and completely eliminate emissions by 2050. This is particularly important in the context of the constantly growing demand for electricity and electromobility.