Solarify is into solar rooftop: Helping rooftop owners to understand solar energy requirements

 

 

Solarify is a Bangalore based startup founded by Sharath. Solarify is a 2 year old company, they took the challenge and proved that Bangalore is the right place for solar projects.

 

Solarify is a company built on a foundation to accelerate the deployment of rooftop solar in India by making it easier for rooftop owners to understand their solar energy requirements and providing access to technical/policy expertise, best market prices & project financial support.

 

We got an opportunity to talk with Sharath, the founder of Solarify and see what he has to say? I am sure his interview with us will inspire you.

 

 

Give a brief info about your startup?

Solarify is a company built on a foundation to accelerate the deployment of rooftop solar in India by making it easier for rooftop owners to understand their solar energy requirements and providing access to technical/policy expertise, best market prices & project financial support.

Solarify is a 2 year old company having successfully finished 20 projects across homes, apartments, schools, parks, factories in Bengaluru. We are working with many organizations to help the average rooftop owner to reduce their energy costs.

This helps in huge long-term savings  & reducing operational expenditures. Our business development efforts are unique and we’re confident of providing great value to our customers. We are aggressively looking to Solar-ify 100’s of rooftops in a year.

 

 

What made you start your startup and what problem does it solve?

Having worked as an engineer with a solar startup called Simpa Energy, I have witnessed how Solar power can empower communities. It was just magical to witness energy being generated from the sun( literally out of air!) and that is when I realised that Solar should become our country’s major source of energy.

Since there were significant challenges still persisting to hinder its faster adoption, we decided to use our experience and energy to solve this problem.

The main problem for end customers is awareness about right technology and the financing options related to upfront capital investments. Solarify is trying to solve these problems.

 

 

Tell us about yourself, your previous jobs/ventures? What were you doing before this startup?

Before starting Solarify, I’ve worked at 2 different startups. Both of these experiences have provided me the necessary skills for starting on my own. My first work after college was with a Management Consulting/Investment banking firm for startups looking for growth capital, market research, M&As etc. While the next company was into solar products for rural markets with financing options.

 

 

Where is your startup based out of? Why do you think that is the best place for you?

We are based in Bengaluru! We are nestled in the beautiful neighbourhood of Jayanagar. The myth is that Bengaluru with its pleasant weather & many rainy days is not ideal for Solar power. We wanted to take on that myth and we have shown many of our customers that Bengaluru is as good as any to generate good amount of Solar power. Most of our team is based here which helps. Also Bengaloreans are known to adopt new technologies and concepts relatively openly.

 

 

As a startup founder, what are you paranoid about? What keeps you awake at night?

I’m paranoid about getting the best people on our team, providing a satisfying career experience and holding on to them.

I’m paranoid about customer service. We hate having an angry or a dissatisfied customer.

Also I’m paranoid about having a limited time to make an impact before a young college student/s comes with newer, better and innovative ways of solving the same problem that makes us obsolete. This keeps us on our toes actually!

 

 

Who are your competitions and how are you better than them?

We have multiple companies that provide similar products and services. We however provide a better, transparent & customized solution to each of our customers. We have an in-house design team that work to get that best looking (aesthetically) solar solution on terraces. Also our young team has great ideas to expand our offerings into different verticals(other than solar energy) in the near future. We are constantly on our toes to figure out how to do things better than what we did yesterday!

 

 

How hard is it to have a work-life balance as a startup founder and how do you manage it?

It’s not easy, which I’m figuring it out by myself now since I’m pretty new to this journey.  It’s about identifying priorities and working on them. What makes it easier is having a dependable team who are willing to take up and own segments of our work & responsibilities.

At the end of the day, it’s important to spend quality time with family and friends and all of us do that.

 

 

Have you raised funding? If yes, then we would like to know the details. If no then please tell us if you are looking to raise.

Yes, we recently raised a small angel fund from friends and family. This is to help us explore new opportunities in growing our business using new technology.

 

 

What gets you excited about this company?

I’m excited about the space we are in which is providing clean distributed energy to homes and businesses. We will reach out to lakhs of people to either provide them information, financing or domain expertise to transit their current energy usage to a cleaner & safer form.

Clean energy and its associated verticals are ripe for innovation & disruption. Although this might take a little time, there is going to lots of overhaul of existing infrastructures & behemoths. This only means we have an opportunity to shape and ride this change that’s bound to happen.

I’m also optimistic with my team as we are building an organization with young people leading this thought process who bring a fresh approach to how business is conducted.

 

 

Tell us about your team and how did you meet each other?

 We have a good team of young & fun individuals who are passionate about clean energy and are building up capacities and careers with Solarify.

Our 1st member joined us after he contacted us to set up a solar power plant for his house. When we met up to evaluate the feasibility, we ended up talking about opportunities in the space and at the end of the day we mutually agreed to work together. Our other team members have reached out to us directly and expressed how and why they wanted to be a part of our journey. What I’ve learnt is that if people are clear about how they’d fit in and contribute, they usually turn out to be the right choice.

 

 

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