The archive · Climate & Energy · Strategic decision · 2017–2025
Enpal's home-electrification bet: GEG/Solarpaket boom, 2024 slump, €2.3B round
Germany's largest solar subscription startup rode 2024's energy laws to €905M revenue, hit a demand slump, restructured, and raised €110M at €2.3B.
Enpal
What the business is
A Berlin installer selling rooftop solar, batteries, heat pumps and EV chargers to homeowners on subscription plans, plus an energy-trading platform (Enpal.One+).
Starting capital：~€690M in VC equity from investors including TPG Rise Climate, Westly Group and Activate Capital, plus €5B in refinancing commitments, as of April 2025
How it started
Enpal was founded in Berlin in 2017 and built an online configurator that let homeowners order solar with no upfront cost. Its bet was that German households would electrify if the financial barrier disappeared, and it scaled that subscription model to €905M revenue by 2023, becoming Germany's best-known green-tech unicorn.
What happened
2024 delivered the regulatory wave and then the reversal. The Building Energy Act (GEG) — requiring heating in new homes to run on 65% renewable energy — came into effect in January 2024 after a heated political debate, and Solarpaket I followed in May 2024, easing grid registration for balcony and rooftop solar. Instead of an uninterrupted boom, German heat pump sales dropped by nearly half in 2024 as the political fight around the GEG created uncertainty. Enpal's revenue slipped from €905M to €860M and it fell into loss; founder Mario Kohle said the company had invested over €100M in a complete restructuring, shifting from an online solar platform to an integrated provider of PV, heat pumps, batteries, smart meters and an energy management and trading system.
How it ended up
Still running and scaling: Enpal reported record sales and positive profit for January–February 2025, aimed at €1B revenue for the year, and in April 2025 raised €110M led by TPG (with SoftBank and a new investor) at a €2.3B valuation.
Background
Enpal is a Berlin green-tech company founded in 2017 that sells rooftop solar, batteries, heat pumps and EV chargers to German homeowners as a bundled subscription with zero upfront cost. Its bet was that removing the capital barrier — not the technology — was what would make households electrify.
Germany's 2024 regulatory wave looked tailor-made for that model: the Building Energy Act (GEG), in effect from January 2024, required heating in new homes to draw at least 65% of its energy from renewables, and Solarpaket I, in force from May 2024, simplified solar registration and grid feed-in. Instead of a clean boom, the political fight around the GEG froze buyers: German heat pump sales dropped by nearly half in 2024.
Enpal's revenue fell from €905M in 2023 to €860M in 2024 and it slipped into loss. Founder Mario Kohle said the company had invested more than €100M in restructuring, converting itself from an online solar platform into an integrated home-energy provider — PV, heat pump, battery, smart meter and the Enpal.One+ energy trading system.
By April 2025 the turnaround story was credible enough to raise €110M led by TPG, with SoftBank participating, at a €2.3B valuation. Enpal reported record sales and positive profit for January–February 2025 and set a €1B revenue target for the year, betting that the electrified-home bundle — not any single appliance — is the durable business the 2024 laws set in motion.
What has to be true
- The GEG and Solarpaket I made residential electrification a policy priority, creating the demand backdrop for a €0-down solar-plus-heat-pump bundle.
- The political fight over the GEG halved German heat pump sales in 2024, proving that regulatory uncertainty can hit demand even when the law is on the company's side.
- Enpal's subscription model turned a €20,000+ purchase into a monthly payment, which mattered more once buyers became price-sensitive.
- The €100M+ restructuring into an integrated energy provider showed the company treating the 2024 slump as a reason to broaden, not retreat.
- TPG and SoftBank re-priced the company at €2.3B in April 2025, backing the thesis that home electrification demand would rebound.
What can be applied
A startup can build the right bet on a new law and still get hurt by the law's politics: regulation creates demand, but a repeal fight can freeze the market faster than the subsidy ever heated it.
Aftermath
As of 2025-04-07, Enpal had raised ~€690M in VC equity (TPG Rise Climate, Westly Group, Activate Capital and others) plus €5B in refinancing commitments, and completed a €110M round led by TPG with SoftBank at a €2.3B valuation. After a 2024 in which revenue fell from €905M to €860M and the company fell into loss amid a halved German heat pump market, Enpal reported record sales and positive profit for January–February 2025 and targeted €1B revenue for 2025, positioning itself as a full home-energy provider with its Enpal.One+ trading platform.
Sources
- Enpal sichert sich 110 Millionen Euro Finanzierung
- Enpal sammelt weitere 110 Millionen ein
- Germany economy minister warns against rolling back contentious heating law
- Im Bundesgesetzblatt veröffentlicht: Solarpaket I tritt am 16.05.2024 in Kraft
spotted an error? The archive wants to know.
Your turn
You just read one. Describe what you are building, and see who is betting on the same thing.
Free account · 3 free questions · no card