At the seed stage, the most exciting conversations occur when a founder conveys a clear and compelling vision of the opportunity they are pursuing. Although the path to get there is uncertain, they have an extraordinary clarity about the destination. Our role is to "see what they see." In 2016, Simon Phelan pitched us an "Amazon for energy," a one-stop shop for all energy needs enabled by technology. He described a future where, as the grid becomes more decentralized and closer to our homes (solar panels, heat pumps, etc), value would shift from traditional energy suppliers to those who can connect customers with multiple renewable solutions as well as finance them. He saw an opportunity to build a new type of energy company. Last week, Simon's vision came one step closer to reality with the announcement of a £250 million asset-backed facility with Barclays. It's amazing to see his original idea materialise after eight years of building the company step by step. Simon chose the unglamorous boiler as his entry point; then grew an installer network, both organically and through M&A; before expanding their product range to solar panels and heat pumps. The next stage was to bring in financing from one of the UK’s best known banks, as well as a debt facility from one of the world’s biggest asset managers, BlackRock. It's estimated that an investment of £250 billion will be needed to fully decarbonise UK homes by 2050. Who is going to finance this infrastructure upgrade? Hometree 's connection to the capital markets is a real milestone to get us there and signals the emergence of a new type of energy company that is just getting started.
I founded Hometree in my bedroom in North London aged 25 with a business plan titled “Connecting Investors with Sustainable Investment Opportunities”. Nearly nine years later, it is incredibly exciting to see that original business plan coming to life through the £250m asset backed debt facility from Barclays which we announced last week, which marks the UK's first ever residential renewable securitisation. I believe this is both a significant milestone for Hometree, but also for the residential renewable market in the UK, and therefore, I wanted to write some thoughts both on what it's taken to get here, but more importantly, why we think this new facility, and future ones like it, will be a key tool in accelerating the drive to decarbonise our homes. https://lnkd.in/dqHamYSK
Simon Phelan
2w
Thanks so much George Henry and all the LocalGlobe team for your support over the years. Still a lot to do, but its been amazing having your backing from the very start and your continued involvement. LocalGlobe really do take that long term view needed to build a big business, and its been fantastic having you alongside us as we build Hometree step by step.
Serial Entrepreneur
1wSimon , you have really done well to position Hometree as a leader in the renewables market . With the Barclays facility it allows you to take another step in realising that vision in a practical way. Feels like you are at the beginnning of a growth cycle for Hometree as an agile , young business in a large category in the U.K. and Europe . Well done