British solar tech innovator Naked Energy has secured a £1m investment from Nesta, the UK innovation agency for social good. The deal sees Naked Energy join the line-up of tech ventures supported by Nesta’s Impact Investment team that are driving innovation alongside social or environmental impact. Nesta’s funding will enable the developer to continue expanding its engineering and commercial teams and scale the production of its solar technology. The announcement follows the opening of Naked Energy’s Series B funding round, in which it is targeting at least £10m to meet the increased demand for green energy globally and accelerate the decarbonisation of heat. The deal comes as part of a funding round that has already seen investment from the likes of Barclays and ELM Companies, and during an exciting period for solar thermal. The International Energy Agency predicts solar thermal will be used in 30% of buildings globally by 2050, and Naked Energy’s Virtu technology is proving instrumental in this expansion.
Naked Energy’s VirtuPVT collector combines high efficiency solar photovoltaic (PV) and solar thermal technology to generate both electricity and heat from a single collector. Christophe Williams, CEO and founder of Naked Energy, said: “At Naked Energy, we’re always looking for investors who share our long-term green vision, and Nesta is clearly aligned with our mission to deliver climate impact at scale. “We’re delighted to be supported by Nesta’s Impact Investment team. With Nesta’s help we’re looking forward to being able to increase the rate at which we decarbonise heat – an issue that we need to urgently address in order to reach net zero.” Alex Hook, Senior Investment Director at Nesta, says: “We are delighted to invest in Naked Energy, our first investment which is aligned to Nesta’s Sustainable Future goal to decarbonise UK households.”
redits: renews.biz [Image: Naked Energy]
