In the past years, many Western countries have seen rapid adoption of new clean technologies in the residential sector. However, adoption in Southern Europe has been slower due to regulatory and market constraints. As in many other European countries, Spanish households wish to implement clean energy solutions such as solar, heat pumps, batteries and EV-chargers that lower the energy bill and contribute to the energy transition.
Whilst installation of residential PV and other residential clean energy solutions in more mature markets is challenging at the moment, we believe that in a more nascent market like Spain there is still a large market opportunity and work to be done to reduce the residential dependency on fossil fuels.
We believe that Samara is well positioned to serve this market through its integrated, digital and customer-centric energy solution for homeowners and communities consisting of (community) rooftop solar, batteries, EV chargers, smart thermostats, and HVAC’s/heat pumps. Additionally, Samara’s financing solution lowers the barriers for many households as it allows them to participate in the energy transition without significant upfront CAPEX. Finally, Samara is developing a digital platform to manage all home energy solutions and operate a virtual power plant.
Our decision to co-lead specifically Samara’s Series A round came down to three things:
A visionary team
Since we first met Iván and Manel they have continued to impress us with their vision, drive, and knowledge of the intricacies of the energy market. Having launched and scaled multiple international companies in Spain and Portugal, we believe they are uniquely positioned to execute on the business plan and scale Samara is an efficient way.
Holistic approach to a renewable future
Iván and Manel recognized from the outset that to build true systemic value, there is a need for a solution that offers more than just residential solar. The challenges of electrifying the residential market, require us to work towards more renewable generation, while simultaneously solving the problems of load growth and capacity constraints. Samara has focused on this from the start and the market is increasingly acknowledging the advantage and necessity of having multiple residential clean energy solutions working together. A strong indicator of this is the growing attachment rates of heat pumps, batteries, and EV chargers. In combination with Samara’s digital platform, this will allow households to respond to the grid in a way that is a win-win for the customer and the wider energy system.
A refreshingly simple, customer-first approach
The current customer experience for Spanish households is poor as incumbent utilities are expensive, lack transparency, and provide poor customer service. Samara focuses on offering a simple, customer-friendly proposition, with a top-in-class NPS score and high referral rates. We believe this is essential in both getting households to participate in the energy transition and growing the company.
In summary, we are convinced that Samara will play an important role in accelerating the Spanish residential energy transition in a systemic way and we are excited to be part of the ride!