This puts serious weight behind its goal to become the core operating platform for decentralised power systems.

The Berlin-based company confirmed it has raised $22 million in Series A equity alongside a $1.2 billion debt facility, taking total committed capital to $1.222 billion. 

The equity round was led by MMC Ventures and QED Investors, with backing from Lowercarbon Capital, BNVT Capital, Bosch Ventures, Centrotec and Earthshot Ventures. 

A major European bank is providing the debt to support customer and installer financing, reinforced by a €300 million guarantee from the European Investment Fund.

Cloover is responding to the high demand for home energy systems, which lack adequate machinery needed to deploy them at scale, as they are badly out of date. Installers still rely on patchy software, slow approvals and limited access to capital. 

Banks, on the other hand, are not built to finance thousands of small residential projects quickly. The result is delay, higher costs and missed opportunities.

Cloover’s model cuts through that bottleneck by placing financing inside the installer’s daily workflow. Instead of treating funding as a separate step, the platform links sales, procurement, financing and long-term energy management in one system designed specifically for distributed energy assets.

The company uses data-led credit assessments that focus on long-term energy savings, rather than relying only on standard credit scores. It also advances public subsidies upfront, so households do not have to wait months to benefit from state support. 

For investors, the platform offers exposure to a new infrastructure asset class, backed by live performance data and clear impact tracking.

“With this $1.2 billion commitment, we’re enabling households to become energy independent, without the friction of upfront costs or complex loan applications. Our AI operating system connects stakeholders across the value chain and revolutionises how energy independence becomes the new norm,” said Jodok Betschart, co-founder and chief executive of Cloover.

On the ground, installers using the platform can offer financing at the point of sale, shorten payment cycles and reduce paperwork. Cloover says its partners generate, on average, 30% additional revenue by reaching customers they previously could not serve. 

Homeowners, meanwhile, gain access to solar, batteries, heat pumps and EV charging with no heavy upfront spend, and typically cut energy bills by 20 to 30% through better system performance and financing terms.

The company’s growth numbers reveal why investors are paying attention. Cloover reports that revenue grew more than eightfold in 2025 while being profitable, nearing $100 million in sales. It is targeting $500 million in 2026 and $1 billion the year after.

That growth is being driven by the dynamism in the energy market. Electricity demand is getting higher, grids are under stress, and electric vehicles are adding new pressure points. 

With households currently seeking better management over costs and reliability, governments establish policies that favour decentralised generation.

“Cloover is not just about financing – we’re building the backbone for energy independence. We are creating the Shopify of Energy: a platform that equips manufacturers, installers, households, and investors with the tools to grow, collaborate, and deliver distributed energy at scale,” said Valentin Gönczy, co-founder and chief product officer.

Founded after extensive research with installers across Europe, Cloover was built around a simple insight: demand was not the issue, infrastructure was. 

Financing emerged as the biggest limitation, and the company set out to fix it without competing with installers themselves.

With fresh capital in place, Cloover plans to enter more European markets, including France, Italy, the UK and Austria, while expanding its product suite with solid automation and new financing tools. 

The longer-term goal is to run the digital backbone of decentralised energy, connecting households, installers, manufacturers and investors through a single platform built for scale.

The post Cloover Raises $1.2bn to Enable Residential Energy Independence appeared first on Tech | Business | Economy.

The funding, split evenly between $2 million in equity and $2 million in debt, comes as Rivy moves beyond traditional SME lending to tackle one of Africa’s major challenges—access to reliable and affordable energy. 

The equity round was co-led by EchoVC, through its $2.5 million Eco Fund, and Shell-backed All On, while local debt providers supplied the rest.

This pivot wasn’t random. Over time, Rivy noticed a pattern where many of the SMEs it financed found it difficult to deal with the issue of electricity. Businesses couldn’t grow efficiently because they were at the mercy of unstable power supply. At the same time, solar installers faced their own limitations, lacking the capital to stock equipment in bulk.

“We realised that businesses weren’t just asking for loans—they needed a way to solve their power problems,” Dami Olawoye, Rivy’s CEO, explained. “At the same time, solar vendors needed capital to fulfil demand. So, we expanded into asset financing to bridge that gap.”

This insight led Rivy to build a dual marketplace, connecting over 250 solar vendors and installers with businesses looking for financing. Instead of selling solar products directly, Rivy provides tailored loans, allowing SMEs and larger businesses to spread the cost of solar power solutions over time.

Since shifting its focus in 2023, Rivy has seen strong demand despite the high upfront costs of solar systems. The company disbursed $2 million in loans in 2024 alone and has maintained a loan book growth rate of 15% per month.

Olawoye insists that Rivy’s lending model is sound, pointing to a non-performing loan (NPL) ratio below 1%—a rarity in Nigeria’s fintech space. “We built our underwriting engine, and it is clearly working well because our loan defaults are low,” he said.

For businesses struggling with electricity costs, the math is straightforward. Running on diesel generators or paying the revised electricity tariffs costs more in the long run than financing a solar system. “If they get financing from us, their monthly spend will be lower than what they pay on fuel,” Olawoye noted.

Rivy has expanded into micro-grid financing, which supports large-scale solar installations serving entire communities and commercial clusters. This aligns with the goal to increase clean energy adoption in Nigeria and beyond.

Loan terms are structured based on energy demand, installation logistics, and service charges. Interest rates typically start at 12% for a three-month term, increasing for longer durations. However, businesses must pay an initial deposit of at least 30% before accessing financing.

While equity funding helps startups grow, too much of it dilutes ownership. Debt financing, on the other hand, allows companies to scale lending without giving away too much control.

“Equity is expensive,” Olawoye admitted. “We can’t keep raising equity to lend money because everybody [shareholders] will keep getting diluted. If we want to raise future rounds, a structure we’re most likely to use will be one where we raise a combination of debt and equity.”

With this fresh injection of capital, Rivy plans to strengthen its footprint in Nigeria while exploring expansion into other African markets. The clean energy financing space is gaining momentum, and Rivy wants to be at the forefront.

The company is now offering loans and driving a shift towards long-term energy independence for businesses and communities.

The post Payhippo Drops SME Lending, Rebrands as Rivy with $4M to Focus on Clean Energy Financing appeared first on Tech | Business | Economy.