IAN Fund Invests Rs 12.4 Crore in Solar Panel Cleaning Solutions Firm

The IAN Fund has led an investment worth Rs 12.4 crore in Pune-based solar panel cleaning solution startup Nocca Robotics.

The IAN Fund, a seed fund worth Rs 375 crore, has led an investment amounting to Rs 12.4 crore in Pune-based solar panel cleaning solution startup Nocca Robotics. The investment also saw participation from prominent angel investors from the Indian Angel Network.

Founded in April 2017 by IIT Kanpur graduates Harshit Rathore and Nikhil Kurele, the startup leverages technologies such as Artificial Intelligence (AI), machine learning, deep learning and robotics to provide automated, water-less and shareable solar panel cleaning solution for utility-scale solar parks. 

Rathore said that his company’s waterless and shareable robotic solar panel cleaning solution enables plant owners to operate at peak efficiency while generating attractive ROIs (returns on investment) by curbing unnecessary spends on manual cleaning and increasing the power generation.

“Moreover, the impact that the switch to waterless cleaning options can drive on the ecological level is immense. Water is a precious resource without which we cannot survive. Coming up with innovative alternatives to all water-based industrial processes should be the top priority of our age,” he said.

The startup plans to use the investment to set up a robust manufacturing facility to create robots with improved quality control, with the objective of catering to nearly 1 GW of solar projects every year.

Speaking on the investment, Saurabh Srivastava, controlling and designated partnerof IAN Fund said that Nocca Robotics with its unique IP for waterless robotic cleaning of solar panels and other surfaces is well poised to leverage the government’s focus on scaling the country’s solar power generation capacity to 100 GW by 2022.

“It’s innovative, tech-based, unique solution will address the auxiliary challenges associated with solar energy operations. IAN Fund is confident of the venture’s potential to achieve exponential growth and scale and is committed to helping it drive unparalleled disruption in India and abroad in its chosen market segment.”