Crawley-based Naked Energy has closed a £27m Series B, with a final £8.875m tranche led by Great British Energy's first major solar investment of £7.5m alongside Barclays Climate Ventures, to fund a new UK manufacturing facility for its solar-thermal technology.
Naked Energy, a British renewable-heat company based in Crawley, West Sussex, has completed its £27m Series B financing with a closing £8.875m investment announced on 6 August. The tranche was led by Great British Energy, the state-owned energy body, which committed £7.5m through its Energy Engineered in the UK programme, with existing shareholder Barclays Climate Ventures providing the balance.
The commitment marks Great British Energy's first major solar investment, giving the raise a distinctive public-private structure. Rather than a conventional venture lead, a government-owned investor has anchored the closing tranche, with a private climate fund following on. Valuation and equity split were not disclosed.
The capital will fund a new UK-based automated manufacturing facility for Naked Energy's Virtu solar-thermal and PVT (photovoltaic-thermal) systems, bringing production in-house to reduce unit costs and support commercial scale-up. The facility's location is still to be determined. The company expects it to create up to 40 direct skilled manufacturing jobs and around 100 indirect roles.
Naked Energy's technology generates renewable heat directly at the point of use, displacing gas demand in commercial and industrial buildings without adding load to constrained electricity grids. Its Virtu range produces heat at up to 120 degrees Celsius, addressing higher-temperature demand that heat pumps cannot always serve efficiently. The company holds more than 20 patents and says its low-profile design allows around 85% of roof space to be used for generation, against a typical 50% for conventional tilted panels.
The technology is already installed at recognisable UK sites, including the British Library and the All England Lawn Tennis Club at Wimbledon, references that Naked Energy positions as proof points for heritage and listed buildings.
"Cutting our reliance on gas is one of the biggest challenges we face, both for energy security and for keeping bills down," said Dan McGrail, chief executive of Great British Energy, adding that the programme was designed to help UK innovators "manufacture here at home and go further, faster."
Daniel Hanna, group head of sustainable and transition finance at Barclays, said the bank had backed Naked Energy since its first investment four years ago. "It shows how public and private capital can work together to strengthen UK energy security and grow a domestic renewable energy industry," he said.
Founder and chief executive Christophe Williams framed the raise around domestic manufacturing, arguing the UK has "the opportunity to lead a rapidly growing global market for renewable heat." Great British Energy and Naked Energy also intend to explore deploying Virtu across public-sector buildings, including potential financing models to speed adoption.
Original source: EU-Startups — https://www.eu-startups.com/2026/08/crawley-based-naked-energy-secures-e10-35-million-to-build-uk-solar-thermal-technology-manufacturing-facility/
