Insolight closes Series A financing round of CHF 5 million and will start producing and selling their modules

30.07.2020 09:00, Isabelle Mitchell

Insolight, a Lausanne-based startup that develops solar panels with record efficiency, has raised CHF 5 million in Series A funding, led by Investiere, with co-investors Zürcher Kantonalbank, Swiss Immo Lab, and a number of private business angels.

Following the first Seed financing round in January 2018, Insolight has established a world-record efficiency of more than 29% for flat solar panels, as certified by IES-UPM. The company has successfully taken the technology out of the lab and proved its robustness in real weather conditions. The Series A financing round—together with the EUR 10 million HIPERION grant from the EU—will enable Insolight to start producing and selling the modules. The production will be outsourced to external manufacturers.

Insolight intends to sell first modules to large solar energy corporates for applications in agrivoltaics. There is a unique potential for high efficiency and translucent modules to produce both solar electricity and crops on the land, whether deployed on fields or greenhouses. The nascent agrivoltaic market already represents 5 GWp of installed power, with a market size estimated to CHF 700 million. It leverages unique advantages of the Insolight technology, differentiating the market entry strongly from mainstream products.

Insolight was a Venture Kick winner in 2016, a Venture Leader Technology in 2017, and one of the TOP 100 Swiss startups for the last three consecutive years. “Being a past VentureKick winner and one of TOP 100 Swiss startups truly helped us getting on the investors’ map and building credibility. This is challenging, especially in the early stage, and we would not have reached this level of funding without their continuous support,“ said Laurent Laurent Coulot, Insolight co-founder and CEO.