Solar marketplace MYSUN secures $2.5 million funding from Hemant Taneja
Delhi-based solar marketplace MYSUN has raised $2.5 million from veteran investor Hemant Taneja. This is by far the largest funding received by a company in this business segment which is directed towards impacting the rooftop solar industry.
Following the investment, Hemant, Managing Director at General Catalyst Partners, an American venture capital firm focussed on early stage and growth investments, joins the board of MYSUN.
MYSUN makes it easy for consumers to understand and adopt solar with the help of high-end technology, data, financial products and an online marketplace that connects them to highly-rated pre-screened solar installers to deliver a high quality and affordable solar system. These pre-screened sellers adhere to strict quality standards prescribed by MYSUN.
Hemant said, “The potential of off-grid and rooftop solar in India is immense, more so with the falling prices of solar. With the enthusiastic and experienced team here, I am sure the company will make a huge impact in the solar sector.”
Founded in September last year, MYSUN is a brainchild of Gagan Vermani, Divyanshu Sachdev and Gyan Prakash Tiwari. It designs and delivers the right Solar PhotoVoltaic (PV) solution for urban home owners in Delhi (NCR). It installs solar PV systems on rooftops to produce and sell electricity to the grid.
Gagan, Founder and CEO of MYSUN, said: "We are pleased to announce our first funding of $2.5 million to back our vision. This will help us scale up faster and invest further into technology and infrastructure. We are also delighted to have Hemant on our board and look forward to gain from his wide experience in scaling up the business. "
Market overview and competition
India is an energy-deficit country and our growing economy and population need more energy. While energy from non-renewable sources is shrinking with every passing day, clean energy remains the only option. Unveiling its own bold initiative this year, India pledged that it would derive at least 40 percent of its energy needs from renewable sources by 2030.
Despite the impressive growth in the last three years, the market is still way behind on achieving the 40 GW rooftop capacity target by the government for 2022. The key challenges that the government needs to address are improving net metering policy framework, availability and cost of financing for consumer and startups.
To meet this ambitious goal, India will require support from its citizens alongside effort and initiatives by the government. MYSUN competes with Gurgaon-based Zunroof, Solarwale, Sankalp amongst others.