SolarGaps, which has designed “the world’s first solar smart blinds,” is among CB Insights’ list of 92 renewable energy companies outside the US that have raised equity funds since 2015. It is the only startup from Central and Eastern Europe featured in the listing.
The review covers residential, commercial, and utility-scale renewable projects, as well as renewable-powered consumer products. Only equity deals and convertible notes are included.
SolarGaps are smart blinds that automatically track the sun and generate electricity from its energy.
As of today, the company is preparing to launch on Kickstarter and raise the next round of funding in Silicon Valley, said Yevgen Erik, SolarGaps’ founder, in an exchange with Ukraine Digital News.
So far, the blinds have been exhibited in Las Vegas, Florida, Los Angeles, Israel, Nigeria, Spain and Abu Dhabi. The first 50 square meters of the blinds have been sold in Nigeria.
Sales in Ukraine will kick off in April.
“Our Ukrainian customers want to have a solution which will give them an independent electric supply, in the first place,” said Erik.
Last year, the startup attracted $120,000 (not $200,000, as reported by CB Insights). Effective Investments Company and three individual investors, including Roman Kravchenko, founder of the Ukrainian Internet-of-Things accelerator IoT Hub Kiev, invested in the company.
They received a share of “a little bit more than 20%,” Erik told Ukraine Digital News.
SolarGaps was featured among top ten Ukrainian startups last year.
In January, SolarGaps participated in the Ukrainian Expo organized jointly by the Ukrainian Venture Capital and Private Equity Association and Western NIS Enterprise Fund as part of the International Consumer Electronic Show in Las Vegas..
Source: SolarGaps, CB Insights
