Fintech bullfinch offers financing concept for decentralized energy supply

Robin Haack worked in finance in the USA, where he learned about innovative and simple financing solutions for a decentralized energy supply with renewable energy. But in Europe there was not yet a single supplier. This was a void he wanted to fill. It required complex software development and tough negotiations with investors – but now, with the newly launched bullfinch, he offers financing concepts that are integrated into the sales process of solar cell installers.

Homeowners can choose between, among other things, rent, lease or credit. In this part of the Start-up-of-the-Day series, Robin talks about his project and the challenges of starting a company.

What problem do you solve with your financing concept for a decentralized energy supply?

Buildings account for 40 percent of the world’s emissions, most of which are caused by energy consumption. If Europe is to become energy dependent, billions of euros must be invested annually in a decentralized energy supply with renewable energy in buildings. However, most homeowners are overwhelmed by the complexity of energy technologies and reluctant to spend large sums on it. It is also the technology risk, which they do not want to bear. Think, for example, of a software error for batteries and heat pumps. These are the problems we solve with bullfinch. We make it possible for all homeowners to do something for energy independence and to fight climate change.

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What was the biggest obstacle you had to overcome?

The financing was very difficult. We barely received any grants because financial technology is often exempt from grants. At the same time, our business model is very long-term. We manage the energy systems for a decentralized energy supply for 20 years. This makes us too financially heavy for subsidies and too long-term for traditional venture capital. In addition, we are active in several areas – financing, the energy sector and real estate – and few investors really understand this mix. Therefore, it was difficult to communicate our concept and convince investors.

But the most difficult thing was to find an infrastructure investor as a partner. It took half a year. We work with two investment companies, Aquila Capital in Hamburg and Impax Capital in London. Both manage several billion euros each, and we structure, validate and manage the individual projects. Infrastructure investors then invest in the structures we prefabricate. We had to invest a lot in finding solutions for the many small producers in the energy industry.

How did the financing go in the end?

With the energy supplier EWE, the Hamburg-based real estate developer Momeni and the fintech venture capital fund Elevate Capital, we managed early on to get very strong partners who believed in the model. We also gathered a strong management team and a strong supervisory board. Our Supervisory Board includes the former German Postbank CEO and the former German CEO of the energy supply company RWE, who believed in the model. Getting these strong strategic supporters early has been very useful in promoting our financing concept for a decentralized energy supply.

What have been the best moments so far?

We have now built a very long-term business model and made it possible for several thousand homeowners to achieve a large degree of energy independence. I am proud of the cooperation with large companies in the energy sector such as German EWE (Energieversorgung Weser-Ems) AG. I am also proud of our team, whose members work all over Europe. Our management is spread over Frankfurt, Madrid, Berlin and Munich, and the technology team is based in Italy and Spain. We also have people in the technology field who have a lot of experience and have worked for a long time in Amazon and Google as programmers.

How are the conditions for oxen where you are?

Germany is in itself relatively slow and skeptical of innovations. In addition, photovoltaic systems and other decentralized energy sources are associated with enormous bureaucracy. What works in our favor is a strong awareness of sustainability and clean energy among the population.

How do you want to develop your business further? What is your ultimate goal?

We have already invested millions and want to channel billions of capital from the financial market to the renewable energy equipment sector in the years to come. Ultimately, we want to grow from thousands to hundreds of thousands and hopefully millions of energy installations at some point.

Our ultimate goal is to expand our investments to maximize our impact and provide value to as many households and CleanTechs as possible.

What makes your innovation better or different than existing things?

In Germany, we are unique so far: we simplify and automate as many processes as possible, reduce efforts and make work easier for CleanTechs and banks. As a result, end customers do not have to go to CleanTechs and banks to finance their new sustainable energy system. We consolidate these processes for them.

We are integrated into the process, which means we make it super easy, and try to eliminate as much complexity as possible from this process. At the same time, we make these projects viable investments for pension funds and life insurance companies, which are extremely risk-averse. The trick is to structure these many small investments and map all this complexity technologically, while still being simple for the outside world.

Want to read more posts about startup companies? Find more episodes of this series here.