Australian-born American solar panel design and sales platform OpenSolar has raised US$15 million (A$22 million) in a Series B.
Telstra Ventures led the round, announced last month, with support from sustainability fund 2150 and existing investors, including Jeff Tannenbaum’s Titan Grove and solar entrepreneurs Alec Guettel and Howard Wenger.
The money will be used to expand OpenSolar’s free software for solar contractors. The design and sales platform connects them to more than 75 hardware, finance and service providers and is used in more than 130 countries.
Co-founder and CEO Andrew “Birchy” Birch said OpenSolar’s total funding to date is $25 million.
“We started OpenSolar in Australia, the most advanced solar market in the world, where you pay an extremely low price per watt and your system is installed in one to three weeks,” he said.
“With a leading position now in the Australian market, we’ve introduced much of that speed and efficiency to the rest of the world through our software.”
Birch said OpenSolar is becoming the number one choice for installers around the world.
“OpenSolar’s mission is to realize a world powered by sunshine by 2050. We’re assembling the best team of technologists and customer experience specialists in the solar software industry with the goal of helping contractors sell more solar energy – and we won’t stop until every compatible roof generates clean energy to enable the electrification revolution,” he said.
Its co-founder and CTO Adam Pryor said the platform now supports more than US$2.5 billion in annual system sales by contractors.
“The world’s transition to solar energy represents one of the greatest wealth creation opportunities in history, and our commitment to helping local solar installers participate in that change is stronger than ever,” he said.
“This funding will enable us to develop an ever-expanding suite of software tools that will drive their growth and profitability. We look forward to providing more customization and new opportunities to help electrify homes and businesses.”
Pryor said OpenSolar has been independently verified by the US National Renewable Energy Laboratory as the world’s fastest and most accurate solar energy design tool
Telstra Ventures partner Albert Bielinko said they are “extremely impressed” with OpenSolar
“The software significantly accelerates how installers can electrify the world. We firmly believe in this unique business model that is free to the installer and also very valuable to hardware and service providers,” he said.
“OpenSolar’s customers are avid fans who use their open platform to dramatically increase the number of installations they can perform. It enables them to achieve more with less. OpenSolar has a product-driven growth movement, a truly global footprint, and a delightful user experience. The company has an experienced team of all-stars with deep domain expertise who have demonstrated their ability to execute.”
The company also now plans to expand its global partnership and earn fees in return for connecting solar contractors with the products and service providers they need to run and grow their businesses.
