Solivus has smashed its target after raising almost £1.2 million in a crowdfunding campaign.
Now based in London, Solivus delivers lightweight solar solutions for sports stadiums and other large buildings. It has completed rooftop installations at two stadiums and is pitching for four Premier League football clubs.
Its blue-chip clients now also include private airports and leading international infrastructure group Balfour Beatty.
The company, which featured on our EnviroTech 50 ranking this year, overfunded its £850,000 target by 138% at a pre-money valuation of £31.3m. It plans to increase headcount 68% with the funding.
Solivus says contracts signed for installations represent over 600% growth on FY23 revenue.
Its solutions are deployed where conventional solar can’t be used due to weight or application restrictions. It also creates innovative ground-mounted solar products such as lightweight solar car ports and the Solivus Arc – a solar sculpture designed to be a low carbon and aesthetically pleasing alternative to roof panels.
It has a pre-order queue of hundreds of Solivus Arcs which it says was “achieved with very little advertising, proving strong demand for designer sustainable solar sculpture”.
The startup is led by serial entrepreneur Joanna Parker-Swift. As part of the crowdfunding campaign it divulged that, as a member of a female entrepreneur group with commercial benefits, it is required that 51% of the business is controlled by a female leadership team – in this case Parker-Swift.
Therefore in order to ensure she maintains this 51% threshold, it has introduced a new class of B Ordinary Share which ensures that she maintains at least 51% of the voting rights by increasing the number of votes attached to each B Ordinary Share.
The monetary rights on the B Ordinary Shares will remain the same as Ordinary Shares so investors will not be diluted financially.
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