As reported, not only Solas Capital is involved in the financing round for neoom, worth up to 35 million euros, but also BAWAG. In addition to the up to 30 million euros coming from the Solas Sustainable Energy Fund, the bank is providing an additional up to five million euros. This money will be used to pre-finance energy projects of the Upper Austrian scale-up.
Specifically, it is not about an investment with equity in neoom, but rather about financing solutions for neoom customers. “By providing financing, we enable neoom to offer tailor-made financing solutions for private households that make the switch to decentralized energy systems easier. This fits perfectly with our strategy of supporting innovative and sustainable projects that make a positive contribution to our society and environment,” says a statement from Thomas Schevaracz-Helm, Head of SME Banking at BAWAG Group. BAWAG is the fourth largest bank in Austria in terms of total assets.
Debt capital is becoming increasingly important, especially for tech scale-ups that operate with photovoltaics, electricity storage and e-charging stations, because it can be used to pre-finance the often expensive hardware that is sold to customers. Same with neoom. Via “REENT”, Upper Austrian private customers can purchase a solar system including electricity storage and charging station in a rent-to-own model.
New rent-to-own model for Austria and Germany
Since PV systems, electricity storage systems, etc. can cost 20,000 euros or more to purchase, financing solutions have become established on the market for decentralized energy solutions in which customers buy off the hardware over time. At neoom, for example, you can pay 15 percent of the purchase price down and then pay off the rest over a period of around 20 years. Since neoom also has to pay for the hardware, capital from Solar Capital and BAWAG is now being used to finance it.
“This collaboration not only expands our ability to offer innovative, fully financed and turnkey solutions for decentralized solar storage power plants, but also strengthens our commitment to promoting energy efficiency and decarbonization in Germany and Austria,” said Philipp Lobnig, CFO of neoom AG. In 2023 neoom started in Germany and challenged Enpal and 1Komma5° there.
neoom is by no means the only solar scale-up that is obtaining outside capital to finance the hardware. Recently, Enpal from Germany announced that it had secured an additional 1.1 billion euros in debt capital from major banks to finance the expansion of its PV business. Enpal has already raised a total of 3.6 billion euros in debt capital. At the end of 2023, 1Komma5° from Germany also secured debt capital of 100 million euros for the first time, including from BNP Paribas, Deutsche Bank and LBBW.
neeom: Solas Capital invests up to 30 million euros in scale-up energy projects