Green finance is ultimately quite concrete. Like this bread baked in 45 minutes at 200° in the open air and… for free. Or almost. To achieve this, you must have invested in a solar oven. More and more individuals but also professionals, such as restaurateurs, are making this choice.
This undoubtedly explains the success of the fundraising operated by Solar Brother, a startup co-founded in Paris seven years ago by Gilles Gallo, his wife and partner, and now rooted in Carnoules in the Var.
“I contacted an office family who had invested directly, without asking, €100,000. They replied that they had been investing for years in large companies and wanted to repatriate their money to a more sustainable activity”explains the entrepreneur, not without pride, who has just raised €1.4 million via a crowdfunding operation, whereas the initial objective was €1.2 million. “We welcomed 425 additional shareholders, bringing their number to nearly 500.”
With the exception of two funds – Mandarine Capital Solidaire and Engie Rassembleurs d’énergies – there are multiple investor profiles, with tickets ranging from €5,000 to €100,000. Like the young company, which has around fifteen references, from the mini oven kit for children to the installation for restaurateurs, including origami the size of a laptop computer that can cook from 120 to 240° anywhere as long as the sun is there.
Made in France
“Solar Brother’s life was quiet for four years, and then things changed with the combination of three needs that our solar ovens meet: ecology, economy and autonomy, the latter factor having developed with confinement.”
With turnover rising from €300,000 to €1.6 million, the start-up has reached the break-even point while continuing to focus on “Made in France” thanks to a network of subcontractors.
Installation of the headquarters in the Var
If the medium-sized oven sold around €1,000 generates 15 to 20% of turnover, recurring innovations and above all the constant work of referencing in brands such as Le Vieux Campeur or Nature et Découvertes make it possible to ensure the development of the company.
The fruit and vegetable dryer, the release of which was financed by a collection from Ullule, thus also generates 15 to 20% of turnover. “We have seven products in development in the drawers for the next three years.” The start-up is notably preparing solar heating which should be launched – still via Ullule – next month.
Solar Brother’s head office will move from Paris to Carnoules, where a 300m² demonstration center will be built close to the house where Gilles Gallo has been settling down for a few months.
“The municipality of Carnoules, which welcomed us very well as a municipality focused on alternative energies, is going to rent us 600m² near the city center to also set up a production workshop there”says the co-founder.
The successful fundraising should allow the company of eleven employees to recruit salespeople but also to go international, whereas today 70% of turnover comes from sales in France, in the two third parties through the website.
“I launched Solar Brother when I was in Timbuktu and had just read Ravage of Barjavel, which tells of the end of energies. In Africa, there was the sun, it seemed obvious to me”worries the startupper who had just left the world of finance.
Ten years later, the energy crisis could well give a boost to this not so romantic idea…
> www.solarbrother.com/