Why We Re-Invested: Raptor Maps

Image courtesy of Raptor Maps

To anyone who has followed the energy transition, it is no revelation that the global solar industry is large and on a rapid growth trajectory. It has been propelled by decades of cost declines, making it now the cheapest form of power generation. As the solar market has matured, project investors that support it have come to expect low-risk, infrastructure-style returns. However, there has been a rising trend of underperformance in solar assets. With the scale of capital being poured into solar, there is now significant value to be created for solar asset owners in the prevention of this underperformance through data standardization, operational efficiencies, and preventative maintenance.

Raptor Maps began working on a software solution to this problem by providing analytics for drone-based aerial thermography inspections. When MKB led the Series B in 2022, the company’s focus was on building out a SaaS platform that incorporated aerial thermography data, time-series DAS production data, equipment records, warranty claim processing, and work order management. This software platform, called Raptor Solar, would serve as a system of record and provide value on an ongoing basis, rather than only at the discrete time of inspections.

Co-founders Nikhil and Eddie, along with the team they’ve built at Raptor Maps, have executed on that vision and established themselves as the clear leaders in the creation of an operating system for the solar industry. As we head into 2025, the company has positioned itself to be the rails on which the autonomous future of solar asset and operations management run. Innovations such as Raptor Solar Sentry and instant inspections are poised to further deepen Raptor Maps’ value creation. Its software product offerings have the capacity to unlock the next stage of scale for the solar industry. Their customers, including asset managers like Brookfield, independent power producers (IPPs) like ENGIE, and solar owner-operators like Cypress Creek Renewables, are recognizing this.

At a time when load appears set to grow again due to power demand from data centers and the electrification of transportation, buildings, and industry, solar is becoming the predominant new source of power generation capacity in the United States and elsewhere. It made up 55% of all new electric capacity in the US in 2023 and is expected to represent 64% in 2024. The sustained reliability and profitability of solar energy generation has never been more important.

A large and growing market with a clear economic problem to be solved, paired with a best-in-class team executing on targeted technological innovation and business results for some of the happiest customers we’ve spoken to, leaves us at MKB as bullish as ever about the future of Raptor Maps. We are excited to participate in its Series C and to be part of the company’s next stage of growth.

For further information, read the Raptor Maps press release here: https://lnkd.in/g-ayRf3S

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