CHENNAI: Addressing climate change is the need of the hour around the world. Radhika Choudary and Saurabh Marda aimed to provide accessible and affordable solar energy solutions to all, and thus Freyr Energy was founded in 2014 by the Hyderabadi duo. “Conventional sources of electricity are not only polluting the environment but are also getting expensive by the day. Energy is predominantly required in every field, be it a household, industry, transport, defense, commercial set-up or in agriculture,” points out Saurabh, the co-founder. It was a gap they found in the market that led them to set up their own business, using their experience in the industry.
“Both Radhika and I were not new to the sector. We had a combined experience of around eight years in the solar sector. The rooftop sector was relatively new and was just beginning to take off in 2014 due to the reduction of solar module prices. The biggest challenge faced by all players in this sector was profitable scaling as the end customers were not aware of the product,” says the MBA graduate from Yale. “By identifying these gaps and challenges in the solar rooftop sector, we started Freyr Energy. We upgraded the way we accessed and sold solar rooftop solutions to our customers across the country,” he says. In India, they serve at over 1,000 locations across all states and now have footprints in the USA, Singapore, Ghana and Nigeria, in the company’s lifespan of five years. While Freyr Energy has been making solar energy accessible to the common man, their latest input to the market is the mobile app Sun Pro, which assists those wishing to run a solar business.
“The tool is so easy to use that one does not need any technical background and can start using it immediately. The SunPro application uses complex algorithms to identify the best possible solution and presents it in the simplest form for a customer,” says Saurabh. Although the duo had to tap into their friends and family for initial investments, Freyr was soon able to receive Series-A funding worth `27 crore from the Netherlands-based Impact Investment Fund. “We are looking at expanding internationally and planning to double our revenues year on year over the next three years. Our primary focus will continue to be the residential and the commercial & industrial sector (C&I),” he shares. They are also aiming to be an International Solar Solution provider.
