Sol Voltaics, a Sweden-based developer of nanomaterials that make solar power generation more efficient, secured $12.5m in series C funding on Wednesday from investors including Norway-headquartered conglomerate Umoe.
Riyadh Valley Company, which acts as the venture capital arm of the Saudi Arabia-based King Saud University, led the round, investing alongside asset manager Foundation Asset Management (FAM), the Swedish state-backed Industrifonden and nanotech investment vehicle Nano Future Invest.
The equity funding was closed together with $4.5m of grants from the Swedish Energy Agency (SEA) and the European Union-operated Horizon 2020 research and innovation scheme.
Sol Voltaics is working on nanowire solar cell technology called Aerotaxy, which enables thin-film solar cells and modules to be produced more efficiently. The process was originally developed at Lund University in Sweden.
The company has now raised more than $27m in equity funding altogether, with Umoe, Nano Future Invest, FAM and Industrifonden having contributed to a $9.4m series B round in 2013 which was raised together with $6.2m in debt financing from SEA.