Sweden’s Trine raises $6 million in funding round for solar projects

The Swedish start-up Trine has raised approximately 58 million SEK (around €6 million) in Series A funding led by Sweden-based investment firm Gullspång Invest.

According to the company, other investors that joined the round are Andrew Reicher, which is the chairman of Berkeley Energy Africa, and Lars Thunell, the former CEO of the International Finance Corporation.

Trine said it will utilize the funds to expands its operations in Europe and East Africa. “This funding round, led by Gullspång Invest, allows us to scale our business by opening multiple projects across the TRINE platform, thereby attracting greater numbers of crowd-investors who want to fund solar energy projects with impact,” said the company’s CEO Sam Manaberi.

Trine, which says it is on track to eliminate energy poverty for 66 million people within the next five years, expects its crowd-investment platform for solar energy projects will raise around €100 million over the next 24 months.

The company claims it has developed a novel crowd-investing model that connects disposable income from private individuals with local solar companies in emerging markets that are in need of financing. When a project reaches fully-funded status on the platform, the company stressed, a local solar partner pays Trine a success fee equaling 5% of the total loan. This, the company adds, enables investors to have a 5% annual return on their investments.