- 14
- December
2014
Eternal Sun raises €2M Series A from Vermec
How can you guarantee the performance of solar panels over a long period of time, let’s say 20 years? By simulating sunshine and testing the solar panels in a controlled lab environment with powerful and energy efficient lamps, e.g. Heliospectra LEDs. Chokri Mousaoui (CEO) and Stefan Roest (CTO) co-founded Eternal Sun in 2011 after they developed their first solar simulator prototype at Delft University of Technology. As their second and third prototype were already paid by pilot customers, the founders managed to reach product market fit very quickly and bootstrap their smart green startup to €1M revenues in 2014 while keeping a clean 50:50 cap table until their Series A. In July 2011, they moved into the incubator YesDelft where they are still located. The role of TU Delft and its ecosystem cannot be overestimated as 9 out of 11 employees were educated at the university. We first saw Chokri pitching in front of the Climate-KIC accelerator jury at Utrechtinc on 5 July 2012. 2 months later, we went together on the first Climate-KIC USA Startup Tour to Silicon Valley, Washington and Boston. Then Stefan came to Ecosummit Düsseldorf 2012 in November to look for investors.
Read more- 13
- December
2014
Alex Farcet pitches Startupbootcamp and its smart transportation and energy accelerator
Ecosummit TV: Alex Farcet pitches Startupbootcamp and its smart transportation and energy accelerator at ECO14 Berlin. While corporate accelerators are mushrooming in the US and Europe, Startupbootcamp is an independent accelerator founded in 2010 that runs 3-month programmes focused on verticals in several cities including Copenhagen, Amsterdam, Barcelona and Berlin. The idea is to give startups the best possible start by providing €20K for 8% equity, intensive workshops with mentors on product and customer development and a final pitch in a room packed with investors. SBCBerlin‘s smart transportation and energy demo day was a big show and featured 11 young startups raising seed rounds from angels. Sunride, Comodule, Rokka Solutions, Houseahedron and Mybus have great teams that are ready for closer inspection. According to Alex, a good accelerator acts like a co-founder and adds a lot of measurable value in a short period of time. The startups we met all confirmed that Startupbootcamp and its mentors delivered on their promises. However, for smart green startups 3 months are rather short to reach product/market fit. It may be worthwhile to double the programme length in future editions.
Read more