Sol Voltaics raises $17 mln in grant funding, Series C led by Riyadh Valley

Source: www.pehub.com --- Wednesday, May 11, 2016
Riyadh Valley Company , the venture capital investment arm of King Saud University in Riyadh, saudiarabia, led a Series C funding round in Sol Voltaics , a Swedish advanced materials start-up. Long-term investors Umoe , FAM , Industrifonden and Nano Future Invest also contributed to the $12.5 million in equity. The Swedish Energy Agency and the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research program kicked in an additional $4.5 million in grants. Press Release Swedish advanced materials start-up Sol Voltaics has raised a record round of $17 million in new equity investment and grant funding to accelerate commercialization of its nanowire solar film tandem-layer technology. The Series C funding round was led by new investor Riyadh Valley Company (RVC), the venture capital investment arm of King Saud University in Riyadh, saudiarabia. Long-term investors Umoe, FAM, Industrifonden, and Nano Future Invest demonstrated their continuing commitment to Sol Voltaics by contributing to the $12.5 million in equity. In addition, the Swedish Energy Agency and the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation program backed the company with over $4.5 million in additional grants. The new investment will bolster Sol Voltaics’ efforts to bring its nanowire-based solar efficiency boosting film to market. The company recently announced a major technological breakthrough with the successful alignment of gallium-arsenide nanowires in a thin film. W ...