Heliatek raises €80M Series D to increase production capacity by a factor of 40
Capital-intensive smart green startups in Europe aiming at building their own hardware factories have a hard time fundraising. Financially motivated VCs require capital efficiency and prefer hardware startups that outsource manufacturing and the necessary CAPEX. Financing new PV factories in Europe is even more difficult due to China’s hegemony. It turns out it can only be done if you develop the next generation of PV technology, continuously improve efficiency and work diligently on building a co-investor syndicate of family offices, corporates and governments. Keep in mind that it was the Chinese government that backed a myriad of Chinese manufacturers to hijack the global PV industry. After a very long fundraising journey, 10-year old Organic Photovoltaics (OPV) pioneer Heliatek finally found the capital to build its second 3G solar factory in Dresden, Germany’s epicentre of photonics and organic semiconductors.
Read moreThibaud Le Séguillon Presents Organic PV Startup Heliatek
Ecosummit TV: Thibaud Le Séguillon, CEO of Heliatek, presents his Organic PV startup at ECO12. OPV is the third generation of solar technology and Heliatek is the global leader. The Dresden-based startup recently announced another efficiency world record of 10.7%. The efficiency roadmap goes up to 15-20%. But the real advantage of Heliatek is low cost per kwh as well as very green manufacturing processes without toxic materials. Now Heliatek looks for €60M for their Fab 2. Thibaud on Ecosummit TV is just the perfect sales pitch for their new financing round.
Read more3 Smart Green Startups from Germany Poised to Conquer the Global Market
As a warmup for ECO12, I would like to present 3 smart green startups from Germany that are in a unique position to be successful on the global Cleantech market. They have unique technology, achieved major milestones and look for strategic investors, partners and clients to enter new markets and grow faster. Let’s take a closer look at SolarFuel (Power to Gas), Heliatek (Organic Photovoltaics) and Flinc (Realtime Ride Sharing). All 3 startups are nominated for the ECO12 Award and join Ecosummit 2012 on 22-23 March in Berlin.
Read more3G Solar made in Germany – Heliatek is getting ready to take Organic PV global
The more I learn about this company, the more I like it. Heliatek is a world leader of Organic PV (Organic Photovoltaics) and they are getting ready to prove it. Since we visited Heliatek 6 months ago in Dresden for Ecosummit TV, a couple of things have happened. Heliatek has a new CEO and a beautiful new corporate identity. They’re in the middle of building the first factory in the world for OPV panels with a roll-to-roll vacuum production process. “For our next-gen organic solar cells we had to invent a totally new production system,” says Heliatek’s CTO Martin Pfeiffer. Heliatek’s factory of the future goes live in 2012. Kleiner, VantagePoint, Khosla, RockPort and DFJ take note: Heliatek plans a new funding round next year and wants the best US VCs in. A multi-billion dollar market is waiting to be conquered and 3G Solar made in Germany volunteers to do the job.
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