Naked Energy secures €6.17 million in funding

Naked Energy, an EIT Climate-KIC supported solar energy startup has raised €6.17 million in funding. Environmental fund manager Earthworm Group led the round with co-investment from Taqa Holdings Ltd.

Additional investment came from existing shareholders and new investors supported by Ethical Fin, Fonte Capital, Green Angel Syndicate and Syndicate Room.

Earthworm Group has over €117 million under management and says it only backs businesses that have a positive social or environmental impact. Taqa Holdings is a multi-billion turnover international conglomerate with interests in manufacturing, agriculture, trading and services.  

Naked Energy is a UK-based business in the sustainable energy sector with a global outlook. The company has already made significant progress in product development and testing of its Virtu technology, a patented hybrid solar collector. As Virtu generates both heat and power it is much more efficient than conventional solar photovoltaic (PV) products. The capital raise will be used to accelerate the company’s sales and marketing efforts, including international distribution partnerships, as well as volume production and automation.

Virtu can deliver a peak efficiency of 80 per cent, converting 20 per cent of the sun’s energy to electricity and 60 per cent as heat.  On a typical commercial flat roof, conventional PV panels need up to 50 per cent more space than VirtuPVT to generate the same financial savings—and up to 300% more to deliver the same carbon savings.  The compact, novel design means more energy is generated from less space—a particular advantage in the built environment where distributed energy solutions are most needed to tackle climate change and insulate against rising energy costs.

Christophe Williams, Co-founder and CEO, Naked Energy said: “We are delighted to complete the latest and most important funding round to date.  New investment enables Naked Energy to unlock the huge commercial potential for distributed renewable heat which is key to tackling climate change and allowing energy users greater choice and financial flexibility.”

Will Brocklebank, Managing Director, Earthworm, said: “This solution is tremendously exciting because it offers a better way for customers around the world to harness solar energy to displace fossil fuels used in heating, cooling and energy generation.  Naked Energy’s design also enables its customers to generate heat and power from a wider range of roofs, walls and other surfaces compared to traditional solar PV products, which all helps our transition to a greener energy mix.  We are delighted to join Christophe and the team on this exciting journey.”

A spokesperson for Taqa Holdings confirmed: ”The Group sees this as a highly strategic investment that complements the adoption of a more sustainable business model for our own energy consumption.  We also see the potential to introduce and promote Virtu to our wider network as the Group expands its interests in the renewable energy sector.“