Cloover, a climate fintech that enables vendors of renewable energy technologies to offer their services as a subscription, has raised a €7 million pre-seed investment. The round was led by 9900 Capital (former Gates Foundation and Hedosophia investors), with participation from QED, Broadhaven Ventures, Index Ventures’ Scout Fund and Centrotec, together with prominent climate and fintech angels.
The funding will be used to enhance Cloover’s software platform, expand its service offerings, launch in Germany, and expand across Europe as it aims to deliver renewable energy to one billion people.
Cloover was founded in 2022 by a team of four entrepreneurs: Peder Broms (Co-CEO & CFO), Jodok Betschart (Co-CEO), Tony Kirmo (CRO) and Valentin Gönzcy (CPO). The four founders have more than 40 years of combined experience in finance and tech, built 2 successful software and fintech startups, and have dedicated their lives to make renewable energy more accessible and affordable.
Peder Broms, Co-CEO of Cloover, said: “Renewable energy technology is at the core of achieving Net Zero. However, the technology is capital-intensive and complex, which has made access to financing a key challenge for manufacturers, vendors, and end customers. This is slowing down the adoption of renewable energy. We address this by enabling all parties in the value chain to sell products ‘as-a-service’ and manage their working capital better. By removing capital constraints and enabling risk-sharing across the value chain we can deliver on our mission of making sustainable finance simpler, faster, and more affordable.”
Jodok Betschart, Co-CEO and Founder, commented: “We are thrilled to have the support and backing of experienced climate and fintech investors, who share our passion for using innovative financial technology services to speed up the energy transition and make a meaningful impact on climate change. Their investment is a vote of confidence in our business model and our vision of connecting one billion people to renewable energy. The funding will enable us to further develop our tech platform and reach a larger share of the industry with our products. This will drive us closer to our goal of creating a greener and more equitable world of tomorrow.”
Clover’s unique platform enables vendors of renewable technologies to offer their services as subscriptions, and further to manage their own working capital. This helps individuals and businesses transition to renewable energy and heating in a capital-efficient and risk-free way. Cloover makes sustainable finance simpler, faster, and more affordable while bringing renewable energy to every household and business.
From a ‘bigger picture’ perspective, Cloover’s approach enables the company to build a decentralised network of solar, battery storage, EV charging and heating pump assets. These assets will be further used by the company to coordinate support for local communities and the national grid infrastructure across Europe.
Betschart added: “We plan to establish a connected network of independent power providers, driving the decentralisation of energy production and fostering sustainable, resilient communities — which is of great importance in the current political and economic climate. By harnessing renewable energy sources at a local level, the plan is to help reduce the overall carbon footprint while creating a more reliable and cost-effective energy ecosystem.”
Read the orginal article: https://www.eu-startups.com/2023/10/stockholm-based-cloover-raises-e7-million-pre-seed-to-leverage-renewable-energy-with-embedded-finance/
