Warburg Pincus-backed rooftop solar company CleanMax Solar has raised $15 million in equity capital from World Bank arm International Finance Corp. (IFC). This is the first time, anywhere in the world, that World Bank and IFC have made an equity investment in a rooftop solar company
CleanMax Solar focuses on providing clean energy to corporates through rooftop and grid-connected solar installations. The company was founded in 2011, and has successfully installed more than 200 projects for over 50 leading corporate clients.
The company’s clients include the Tata group, the Mahindra group, TVS group, Mindtree Ltd, United Breweries Ltd, Manipal Education & Medical Group, and SKF India Ltd.
CleanMax will deploy the funds raised from IFC for adding new capacity. In FY2016-17 the company did around 92 megawatts (MW) of total new instalments. This fiscal they are on track to exceed 300-325MW of new capacity addition.
CleanMax will end up at around 500MW of cumulative installed capacity by the end of this fiscal. In the next three years the company plans to at least double its capacity. A significant portion of this new capacity is expected to come from overseas markets.
CleanMax has entered the Middle East market. In April, they started in Dubai and have begun installing plants and signing contracts. While it is small part of the business right now, they are hoping that in three years it can become around 20-25% of their business.
The expansion into international markets came on the back of CleanMax’s existing multinational clients and Indian clients with an international presence.
