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A Sydney-based scale-up that allows more households to adopt solar and battery systems without investing, and retailers to grow distributed energy portfolios they can white label through virtual power plant offerings, has secured $67 million in one of Australia's largest climate tech deals to date.
At $50 million, debt makes up the largest share of the National Renewable Network's (NRN) Series A round with a major commitment from Infradebt managed funds, including the Australian Ethical Infrastructure Debt Fund.
But the raise is comprised of both debt and equity, and was led by leading climate tech investors Investible, Virescent Ventures and Ecotone Partners' newly established Planet Fund.
NRN has expanded its network by more than 600 per cent in the past two years with more than $12 million in renewable energy assets under management and nearly 10 megawatt hours of installed battery capacity.
With total funding now exceeding $85 million, NRN expects to deploy an additional 40 megawatt hours of battery storage over the next 12 months.
"Millions of Australian homeowners want solar but the costs are prohibitive, and every energy retailer wants to scale up their solar energy generation," says NRN co-founder and CEO Alan Hunter.
"Our platform integrates tech, data, capital, compliance, and market access, to neatly solve the problem at both ends. For customers, it’s access to solar with no upfront fees.
"For energy retailers, NRN can instantly establish or scale distributed energy businesses without capital-intensive balance sheet burdens, while maintaining complete ownership of the customer experience. Our unique model is intentionally structured around empowering partners, never competing with them.
The 'Solar Together' plan launched last month by NRN partner retailer Alinta Energy is an example of the kind of white-labelled virtual power plant (VPP) plan the company can facilitate.
NRN's model allows partners to offer solar and battery systems to households with no upfront costs, no hidden fees, no repayments, and no ongoing system maintenance. This removes the financial barriers for families and enables energy retailers and solar providers to rapidly grow their portfolios without capital exposure.
With this new funding, NRN will accelerate the rollout of its national platform and continue expanding its role as the connective layer between industry, government, and regulators. The company is focused on enabling widespread access to renewables, strengthening partner businesses, and delivering meaningful consumer savings.
Infradebt co-founder Chin-Lee Yu says the build-out of residential battery storage and VPPs will be a key next step in the energy transition.
"Infradebt is pleased to provide a bespoke debt financing solution to support the rapid growth of the NRN platform," says Yu.
"We’re proud to have supported this pivotal transaction, which positions the company to scale its operations and accelerate its Series A equity raise," adds Jason Watts, managing director of Neu Capital which acted as NRN's debt advisor throughout the raise.
Planet Fund partner Amanda Goodman says NRN exemplifies the kind of business the fund is designed to support, where access to cost-effective capital is critical to achieving scale and reducing emissions.
"Its innovative business model, which requires both equity and non-dilutive debt to scale, aligns with our thesis of deploying flexible capital to accelerate climate solutions and help people save money," says Goodman.
"We’re particularly excited by NRN’s potential to drive meaningful household decarbonisation and contribute to lower energy emissions intensity."
The Series A marks Investible’s third investment in NRN since leading its seed round in March 2024, according to Investible's investment principal Ben Lindsay.
"This latest raise represents the largest investment from our fund to date, underscoring the conviction we’ve built in the team, the model, and the scale of the opportunity. In just over 18 months, NRN has grown its network by more than 505 per cent by solving one of the toughest challenges in energy: making clean energy accessible and affordable for households.
"We’re thrilled to welcome our co-lead, Virescent, and other exceptional investors to the cap table. NRN is building both a company and a category with global potential, and we’re proud to be on the journey with them."
Virescent Ventures partner Blair Pritchard says Alan Hunter and the NRN team have built a smart, scalable solution to one of the most pressing challenges facing Australia’s energy transition - grid stability.
"Australia’s transition to renewables has reached a critical moment – without the rapid deployment of battery storage and distributed generation technology, the energy transition will stall," he says.
"NRN’s business model and technology can help address this by rapidly unlocking additional storage capacity, while democratising access to solar and battery technology.
"It will help more households benefit from renewable energy and battery technology without the upfront costs, while helping retailers and easing pressure on the grid. NRN presents a smart solution for consumers and the energy market, and a big step forward in decarbonising the electricity grid."
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