Enpal has recently recorded steep growth rates in sales from year to year.
(Photo: Enpal )
Frankfurt, Berlin, Dusseldorf The Berlin solar start-up Enpal can hardly save itself from orders in view of the consequences of the Ukraine war and the energy crisis. In order to finance its rapid growth, the solar panel rental company is currently in talks with investors who are expected to provide another 150 million euros in capital, according to several people familiar with the matter.
At the end of last year, Enpal was the first German start-up in the renewable energies segment to break the one billion dollar valuation and is therefore considered a so-called unicorn. According to insiders, the valuation is now doubling to two billion euros. The money should come from both existing investors and new addresses, including private equity companies, it said. Enpal declined to comment.
Founded in 2017, the company leases solar systems and batteries to its customers over a period of 20 years. At the end of the term, the system can be taken over for a small fee. Charging stations for electric cars, so-called wall boxes, can also be booked. In view of the high electricity prices, around 25,000 customers can hope to save a considerable amount of money by renting the photovoltaic system.
Enpal wants to achieve an operating profit for the first time in 2022
Enpal has recently had steep growth rates in sales from year to year: in 2020, sales tripled to 56 million euros, last year it was already 110 million, for 2022 the company expects 380 to 400 million. According to company sources, orders have skyrocketed this year as well.
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According to financial circles, Enpal expects a positive operating profit (Ebitda) of eleven million euros for the first time in 2022. In the coming year, 172 million should already be in the book. In view of this business development, the company considers the high valuation to be appropriate, it said.
In the venture capital market, those companies that can achieve a positive cash flow within a short period of time with their business model currently have the best chances. Unlike last year, investors are focusing on the path to profitability.
Enpal should be a real bright spot in the portfolio of the Japanese investment giant Softbank. In October of last year, the group invested 150 million euros in Enpal at a valuation of 950 million euros – at that time 1.1 billion dollars. The Softbank Vision Fund posted a loss of $7.2 billion in the third quarter amid the dramatic slump in technology stocks, the company announced on Monday.
Leonardo DiCaprio and prominent entrepreneurs are invested
Other Enpal investors include Munich-based venture capitalists HV Capital and Picus, and actor Leonardo DiCaprio’s Princeville Climate Technology investment fund. Also involved are Thomas Griesel, founder of the recipe box company Hellofresh, Christopher Muhr, ex-manager of the used car trading platform Auto1, and Delivery Hero founder Lukasz Gadowski.
Start-up valuations come about as new investors and founders agree on how much to pay to acquire company shares. For a long time, the term unicorn was also intended to symbolize the special rarity of these specimens. There are now 36 of them in Germany alone.
Enpal boss Mario Kohle already saw the high energy prices as a business advantage a year ago: “If wholesale prices continue to rise, solar rent pays off extremely – because it doesn’t increase,” he said at the time and announced: “We want one million by 2030 have installed solar panels.”
“By 2030 we want to have installed one million solar systems.”
(Photo: Enpal )
The market, in which there are also competitors such as Eon, EnBW or the Shell subsidiary Sonnen, is currently growing strongly. Solar systems with a capacity of more than 600 megawatts were added each month in Germany this year, according to figures from the Federal Network Agency. However, the pace would have to increase in order to reach the expansion target of 215 gigawatts set for 2030. Solar systems with a total output of 65 gigawatts are currently installed.
More: Is the balcony solar system worth it from a financial point of view?
