Total corp solar funding jumps 54% y/y in H1

Total corporate funding in the global solar sector, including venture capital (VC), public market and debt financing deals, reached USD 18.5 billion (EUR 16.44bn) in the first half of 2023, jumping 54% on the year and showcasing the healthy activity in the industry.

The figures were released last week in a report by consultancy Mercom Capital Group containing data from 187 companies and investors. According to the statistics, the number of deals was 80, marking a 12% decline from the 91 registered a year back.

“Even amidst the tightening financial market conditions and high interest rates, the solar industry remained strong in the first half of the year,” said Raj Prabhu, CEO of Mercom Capital Group. He added that cleantech is among the few sectors globally that still attract VC interest but pointed out that mergers and acquisitions (M&A) activity suffered due to the lack of “easy money.”

At USD 3.8 billion, global VC funding in January-June climbed by 3% year-on-year, coming from 33 deals. Most of the funds were raised by solar downstream companies, which concluded 17 deals with a total value of USD 2.5 billion.

The list of the most notable VC deals was headed by 1KOMMA5, a German energy solutions provider that raised USD 471 million in a Series B round. US power producer Silicon Ranch came second with a USD-375-million, followed by a USD-360-million round by India's CleanMax Solar and a USD-325-million funding by solar energy producer Amarenco. Amp Energy India secured the fifth position in the ranking by raising USD 250 million.

Solar public market financing in the six months came at USD 6.7 billion, raised in 14 deals and debt financing activity soared by 60% to USD 8 billion from 33 deals.

M&A activity, meanwhile, slowed down as only 48 transactions were reported, down from 53 in the first half of 2022. A total of 116 projects totalling 25.5 GW changed their owners, compared to 148 project acquisitions of 37.8 GW in total a year back. Project developers and independent power producers (IPPs) accounted for 5.5 GW of all M&A deals.

(USD 1.0 = EUR 0.888)

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