Evergen taps crowd funding to accelerate smart solar growth, expand overseas

Solar and battery storage optimisation technology start-up, Evergen, is opening up a $7 million fund-raising round to private and wholesale investors, as it looks to fast-track growth in Australia and expand to global markets.

The company said on Tuesday that access to the Series A raise, led by AMP Capital and Artesian’s Clean Energy Seed Fund, was being opened up through equity funding platform VentureCrowd.

The funds raised, the company said, would be used to fund Evergen’s global expansion plans, accelerate the growth of its customer base and drive further development of the residential and commercial energy management businesses.

“This is an opportunity to invest in an Australian-grown renewable energy company through equity crowdfunding and become an investor in the Evergen Series A growth funding round on the same key terms as lead investors,” said VentureCrowd executive director, Steven Maarbani

“Evergen’s solar and battery system with CSIRO-developed technology is cutting-edge and shaping the future of energy.

“We are seeing a growing number of investors joining VentureCrowd to invest in the businesses that not only offer strong growth potential but also make a difference to the planet,” Maarbani said.

As reported on RenewEconomy, Evergen’s technology, which was developed by the CSIRO and has been backed by AMP Capital, uses a household’s power consumption patterns and weather forecasts to decide when to use solar power, when to store it, and when to draw from the battery or the grid, depending on what is the most cost-effective for the household.

According to the company back then, the remotely managed Evergen system, which is regularly analysed and updated by CSIRO, should deliver a 20 per cent cut on household energy costs, on top of savings from solar and battery storage.

Evergen CEO and managing director Ben Hutt said this week that the company had successfully completed trials in New Zealand and signed its first international software distribution deal with South African battery distributor Midnight Sun Energy Storage Systems.

“This part of our raise is about democratising opportunity to invest in the future of our planet and giving power to the people so together, we can create a cleaner energy future and legacy for subsequent generations,” Hutt said.

“We are working on some exciting deals that should take Evergen software to many international markets over the next 6-12 months.”

The equity crowdfunding campaign through VentureCrowd launches on Monday November 25 and closes on Friday December 20. Investors can access details of the deal and register to invest at www.venturecrowd.com.au/invest.

Disclosure: Evergen is a co-sponsor of RenewEconomy’s weekly Energy Insiders podcast.