Our investment in Samara: accelerating the residential energy transition in Spain

• Pelion Green Future (Pelion), the Munich-based independent investment holding company focused on climate technologies, is expanding its investment in Samara. 

• The Madrid-based solar energy start-up has closed a €4.5 million seed round led by existing investors Seaya and Pelion Green Future.

• The funding round aims to drive Samara’s expansion in Spain and the development of a proprietary technology platform to enable Spanish households to switch to efficient and sustainable self-consumption through solar panels, batteries, and EV chargers. 

Munich/Madrid, December 19, 2022 – Six months after its pre-seed investment in June 2022, Pelion Green Future, the independent investment holding company focused on climate technologies, is again investing in Madrid-based solar-as-a-service start-up Samara. The €4.5 million seed round is led by existing investors Seaya – a European and Latin American venture capital fund – and Pelion. With the completion of this funding round, the company has now raised a total of €6.5 million just six months after its inception.

The core of Samara’s business is to make the energy transition for households as easy as possible through technology. Samara uses software to provide a holistic, customer-focused solution ranging from solar panel installation to battery storage and electric vehicle charging. The solution allows users to test the installation of solar panels on their home using a 3D design, calculate their energy savings and understand their positive environmental impact through reduced CO2 emissions. Samara aims to continue building products and technology to assist its customers in adopting the full spectrum of clean technologies related to the residential energy transition.

Pelion Green Future’s renewed investment underscores the continued strong interest in the growing Spanish residential solar market. While the number of total installations was still below 100.000 at the beginning of 2022, the market is expected to reach one million installations by 2025. This represents an annual growth rate of over 75%. Pelion itself is pursuing a broader diversification into different solar sectors with the investment. While Pelion has primarily focused on utility-scale solar farms with investments in companies such as Tion Renewables AG and Pacifico Energy Partners, the investment firm is continually expanding its focus on smaller solar systems in the commercial & industrial, and residential sectors.

The seed round will allow Samara to further its expansion in Spain and continue developing proprietary technology to accompany Spanish households in their energy transition toward a more efficient and sustainable model,  starting with solar panels, batteries, and EV chargers. Faced with the inherent problems of the sector, such as the lack of qualified professionals, Samara has chosen to build and train its own technical teams. Initial installation hubs in Madrid allow the Samara team, led by founders Iván Cabezuela and Manel Pujol, to ensure high-quality standards and rapid execution of their services. As part of its expansion strategy, the company plans to open more of its own hubs in major Spanish cities. 

Regarding the seed round, Benedikt von Bary, Vice President at Pelion, who will support Samara as Director, points out: “We are very excited to increase our investment in Samara and to continue helping homeowners to shift towards green energy and to become energy independent. Over the last months, the team around Iván and Manel has demonstrated their ability to build a striving business quickly. We are convinced that now is the right time to invest in growth across Spain to address the underserved residential solar energy market. We are looking forward to continuing to support the Samara team on their journey to building a market leader for residential homes’ energy transition.”.

Samara is led by Iván Cabezuela and Manel Pujol. As former country managers of Bulb, Uber Eats, Alan, and former managers of Uber and Amazon, both founders have many years of experience scaling and managing high-growth technology companies. Reconciling customer focus with sustainability is one of their core goals: 

“We want to continue helping more people in adopting cleaner energy in their homes through solar panels, batteries, and electric vehicle chargers, becoming more energy independent and reducing their carbon emissions. The goal is to continue the exponential growth we are experiencing in these first six months, expand our geographic scope and continue to develop digital solutions to help our customers optimize their consumption.” points out Iván Cabezuela. “We are focused on improving every step of the customer journey, from lead generation to after-sales, to make this energy transition simple and affordable. We are proud to have the confidence of Seaya and Pelion Green Future, our two main initial investors, once again.” adds Manel Pujol.

About Pelion Green Future

Pelion Green Future (Pelion) is an independent investment holding with offices in Munich and New York. Aiming to be the catalyst for change and innovation, Pelion invests in and partners with companies and entrepreneurs focusing on decarbonization technologies such as renewable energy, hydrogen, and other infrastructure asset classes. As a long-term and entrepreneurial investor, Pelion invests stage-agnostic in public and private markets. Pelion is invested in >10 developers, operators, and producers (IPPs) of renewable energy globally and strategically invests in Pre-seed and Seed stage ventures focusing on decarbonization solutions. For further information, please visit https://www.peliongreenfuture.com/.

About Samara

Samara is the solar energy company that accompanies households in their energy transition towards a more efficient and sustainable model, achieving savings of up to 70% on their electricity bills. Launched in June 2022, Samara offers a comprehensive quality solar energy service (solar panels, batteries, and chargers). Through the development of its own technology, Samara simplifies and brings the adoption of self-consumption closer to consumers. To this end, it has its own energy managers and installation teams that accompany its users throughout the entire process, from start to finish: from the 100% personalized preliminary study to the adoption of new technologies, including installation, maintenance, and proactive monitoring, as well as bureaucratic processes and applications for subsidies. For further information, please visit https://www.samara.energy/.