Colombian startup Unergy, focused on investing in the development of solar mini-grids to increase clean energy generation in the country, has raised US$4 million in its latest pre-Series A round.
The round comes with a US$80 million financing commitment, which brings the total financing committed to Unergy to US$120 million, when adding this figure to the partnership announced weeks ago with its ally Solenium.
Of this amount, US$40 million has already begun to be deployed; it will be used for the construction of 80 solar mini-grids to democratize access to clean energy in Colombia.
The operation was supported by the European fund, a specialist in climate infrastructure, which represents a vote of confidence for Latin American startups working in the cleantech industry, further boosting innovative and sustainable projects in the region.
“Unergy was founded with the objective of fighting one of the biggest issues facing humanity, which is climate change. Actually, if the global temperature rises more than 1.5 degrees Celsius we could face natural disasters,” said Eduardo Ospina, co-founder and CEO of Unergy, in an interview with Contxto.
The resources will be destined mainly to the expansion of the startup in Colombia, Ecuador and Mexico, through distributed generation infrastructure, with the objective of consolidating the startup as one of the main energy generators in Colombia with a growth of more than 1 gigawatt (GW) of installed capacity in the next 5 years at a Latin American level.
“We work hand in hand with communities, owners, allies and experts so that solar energy becomes an engine for local development, economic inclusion and environmental regeneration,” added Ospina.
In many of its projects, the company also promotes dual land use through agrovoltaic models, which combine energy generation with sustainable agriculture or livestock farming. They also seek to generate an environmental, social and economic impact in a comprehensive manner with about 31.8 MW installed, avoiding about 9.6 thousand tons of CO₂ per year.
According to the Colombian Ministry of Mines and Energy, the country has already reached an important goal in its energy transition with more than 3 GW of clean generation capacity already connected to the national electricity system, which represents more than 10% of the energy matrix and multiplies by 15 the installed capacity compared to 2018.
Colombia is the country in the region that is growing the most with solar mini-grids, with four in 2023, 31 in 2024 and 72 in 2025. However, it is just a market in its infancy compared to examples of high growth such as Chile and Brazil.
To date, Unergy has generated more than 40 GWh (gigawatts per hour) in Colombia, with more than 30 million dollars invested, which have allowed it not only to generate clean energy, but also employment. “So far, more than 600 people have been employed in the different regions where the projects have been developed,” adds Ospina.
For the next five years, the company envisions itself as a market leader in medium-sized assets in the world, leading not only an energy transition but also a systemic change in different regions of the world, consolidating a scalable model of distributed generation that starts in Colombia but expands throughout Latin America and is designed to be replicated anywhere in the world.
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