Solar marketplace Otovo raises NOK 450 million

Otovo, Europe’s leading marketplace for solar and battery storage successfully completed a capital raise of NOK 450 million (EUR 40m) on Thursday. The round was led by the existing investors Å Energy, Axel Johnson Group and Nysnø (The Norwegian Government Climate Investment Fund). The equity raise allows Otovo to ensure its path to profitability and to get the company to the number one position in the European residential solar market.

The equity raise was in its entirety done by existing shareholders. The top investors, who previously owned 44 percent of Otovo's shares, Axel Johnson Group (through its AxSol subsidy) was allocated shares for NOK 104 million, the state climate fund Nysnø for NOK 29.4 million and Obos for NOK 5 million. Å Energi (the large Nordic utility created by a merger in 2022) provided more than half of the issue, and was allocated shares for NOK 268 million.

– The equity raise allows Otovo to aggressively pursue the opportunities given by an energy market in which the cost of building new solar energy is at an all time low, traditional energy prices are rising and consumers are looking for ways to cut their expenses, says Otovo CEO, Andreas Thorsheim.

The net proceeds from the Private Placement will be used for growth capital to build up the Company's positions across Europe and general corporate purposes, to ensure a path towards profitability. The company plans to reach profitability through a combination of sales volume growth, operational cost improvements, and monetization of the Company’s subscription assets.

– Thanks to the support and continued trust from our large shareholders Otovo has a strong financial foundation allowing us to work on sales volume increases, prudent cost reduction measures and subscription portfolio monetization to bring the company to profitability, says Thorsheim.

At the same time, Otovo has decided to carry out a repair issue of up to 17.4 million shares at the same price and announced that it will carry out a restructuring of its option program to key employees.

Otovo has raised NOK 1.100m (EUR 100m) in debt, and NOK 700m (EUR 60m) in equity in two issues in 2023.