GRYD Energy, a solar tech startup offering a subscription model for domestic solar energy, has raised £1 million to fund a national expansion.
Key investors include Black Seed VC, an early-stage venture firm dedicated to Black business founders in the UK, SFC Capital, Oasthouse Ventures and Richard Thwaites, the founder and CEO of energy storage developer Penso Power.
The new funds will enable the business to accelerate deployment of its zero-cost solar and battery systems through partnerships with housing developers, registered providers and local authorities nationwide.
The high upfront cost of solar hardware is a barrier that has slowed solar rollout although 8.5million UK homeowners have roofs well suited to solar.
GRYD funds and maintains a home’s solar hardware for the 25-year life of the system, for a subscription it said averages about £65 per month for a four-bed home. The monthly price is fixed and includes maintenance and insurance for the 25-year life of the system.
The business is currently focussed on new homes and will consider expansion to the retrofit market as it continues to scale.
GRYD plans to use the new funds to invest in a series of key hires, secure further energy import and export partnerships, and expand GRYD’s service to include flexibility services – increasing customer savings by charging and discharging stored energy based on dynamic price signals to support capacity in the grid.
The business has launched a successful three-home pilot project in Cornwall, which is serving as a testbed for its software, and has signed an energy export deal with renewable energy supplier Good Energy.