Name of the startup: Solartown Energy Solutions Pvt Ltd

Set up in: 2012

Based in: Chennai

Founder: Vikram Dileepan

Cofounder: Dhanush Kuttuva

Funding received : <$500,000 from BITS Spark Angels and other prominent angels.

What it does:   Solartown builds and owns solar plants on the roofs of small and medium enterprises and sells the energy to the SMEs under long-term power purchase agreements.

The SME only has to provide the roof and will get electricity, at a negotiated price—which will be lesser than the electricity cost the SME otherwise incurs.

How it does it: Solartown takes the complete responsibility for building the solar assets on roofs. It owns, maintains and operate the assets.  It is therefore in essence an energy company.  The company’s distinction is in its focus on SMEs, who typically pay high prices for grid electricity.  Vikram Dileepan says the company is already making cash profits.

The biggest hurdle, of convincing banks about the viability of the business model, has been crossed and now Vikram believes the company is about to take-off.

Big moment: Winning multiple corporate clients who chose Solartown as their cleaner alternative for utility.  The customers include a well-known name in the IT industry, an Indian multinational. The start-up does not wish to reveal customers’ names.  Today, Solartown has several installations with capacity adding up to 1 MW.

Impact: Implemented on a large scale, rooftop solar at the small commercial and residential scale could offset more than 20% of the country’s power requirement by 2030.

Vision: Solartown, over time, expects to become a completely integrated global solar utility.

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