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Founder Stories: How Soly and Evise are accelerating the energy transition in their own way

09
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12
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2024

Soly & Evise

“Your authentic story must penetrate into your fibers,” states Milan van der Meulen visibly passionate. Together with his brother, he founded in 2013 Soly and they now train 130 people in nine countries. Not much further away in the northern Netherlands Dana Ondruskova with her three-member team of Evise to puzzle over complex charging infrastructure for transport companies. “You first need to have your business model perfect before you grow,” she says soberly. “Otherwise, you will only lose money.”

Two entrepreneurs, two phases, one sector. Where Soly has grown into one of the Netherlands' largest players in solar energy after eleven years, Evise is at the beginning of her journey. Their stories show two different routes in the energy transition.

From gaming mission to climate mission

For van der Meulen it started on a Saturday night in 2007 in Leeuwarden, when his father pulled him and his brother Patrick out from behind the PlayStation for a climate documentary. “We saw the footage of Al Gore's 'An Inconvenient Truth'. We knew right away: we want to do something about this.” With 2000 euros in student loans as starting capital, the brothers started installing solar panels from their family home at the age of 19 and 22.

Ondruskovas the road to entrepreneurship was different. After twenty years of experience in sales & marketing and eventually as COO at TanQyou, she saw the energy transition stall. Electrification presents major challenges and requires the use of talented professionals. She decided to take matters into her own hands. “Companies want and need to become more sustainable, but are facing an impossible task due to capacity problems on the power grid. The network operator says: come back in 2030. That doesn't work if you want to take steps now.” She took months to research, kept a part-time job for security, and started Evise in 2023 to make these impossible situations possible.

First the basics, then the growth

“We literally answered the phone between half past nine in the morning and half past nine in the evening,” recalls van der Meulen themselves. “When I went to play football at night, my mother would take over the calls. That was not a sustainable business model.” The breakthrough for Soly came with their yield guarantee for solar panels at a time when “usury panels” dominated the news. “If the panels yielded less than promised, we compensated for the difference. That forced us to deliver quality.”

Ondruskova chose a different approach. “First, you have to understand what the market really needs.” With her team, she developed solutions for “impossible cases” for companies that want to become more sustainable but are stuck on infrastructure. “We are combining charging stations with batteries and smart energy systems so that these companies can already take a green step. Each project is customized. We made mistakes in the beginning, but each mistake makes us better in the next project.”

Paying for learning pains in a growing market

Both entrepreneurs are aware of their setbacks. Van der Meulen: “We once signed a three-ton sponsorship deal with a sports team that was linked to an airline. Totally rash on our part - it did not fit our sustainable mission. There was friction, which ultimately even led to a lawsuit. We lost and had to recoup our money elsewhere. It taught us to think better about strategic partnerships.”

Ondruskova emphasizes: “In our process, we put the customer first. In the unlikely event that there are unforeseen challenges, we as an organization always take responsibility. We ensure that the customer is not hindered by this. This customer-focused policy has helped us to continuously refine our processes. We are now making sustainable profits, which we fully reinvest in improving our services and strengthening our customer relationships.

Two roads to one goal

The contrast in their growth strategies is striking. Soly bootstrapped for nine years before raising external funding. At the beginning of 2024, they raised 30 million for international expansion. “In every new market, you start again as a start-up,” says van der Meulen. “Every country has different rules. Every new product we release also starts as a start-up with a strong boost. That entrepreneurial spirit is always itchy.”

Ondruskova consciously opts for controlled growth. “First, we want to execute every project perfectly. Next year, we may be hiring our first people. But first, the model has to be right before we can really scale.” She works with external partners and keeps the core team small. “That makes us agile. We don't make unnecessary and rash decisions.”

Northern Dutch sobriety

Both entrepreneurs are rooted in the north. Soly once started at the kitchen table in Leeuwarden, but their Dutch office is now in Groningen, where they once started in the Cube050 startup program. “Although we now also have an office in Amsterdam for specialist positions,” adds van der Meulen toe. “Actually, we operate throughout the Netherlands.”

Ondruskova appreciates the Frisian mentality, although it took some getting used to at first. “When I came here, I thought: what should I do here? Frisians have already solved everything fairly well.” But it was precisely that sobriety that proved valuable. “People here are critical when you come up with something new. You really have to prove that your solution works. No empty promises or nice talk - it has to be practical and profitable. Where there was still skepticism about charging stations two years ago, we now see that this practical attitude actually helps with adoption. Once it works, the ball will roll by itself.”

Tomorrow's energy

For van der Meulen the future lies in smart energy systems. “We have 3 million homes with solar panels in the Netherlands, there are more than 7 million households and 900,000 more homes will be added before 2030. And then you need batteries and charging stations, plus smart control. There are still plenty of opportunities there.”

Soly is also now coming out with its own product: the Soly Brain, a smart system that optimizes energy consumption. “We want customers to pay as little as possible for energy,” explains van der Meulen. “That sounds contradictory for an energy company, but it's what sets us apart. We help people generate their own energy and use it smartly.”

Ondruskova Despite her calm, she still looks directly at international opportunities, starting in her native country of Slovakia. “The Netherlands is at the forefront of the energy transition. We can export that knowledge.” But first, she wants to serve the home market perfectly. “There are still so many opportunities here.”

The DNA of an entrepreneur

“Do you know why”, emphasizes van der Meulen again. “If it's just about money, you can't hold out if things don't work out. That climate documentary permeated everything to us - it became our common thread. That gives so much extra energy, especially at times when it's difficult. It also provides an authentic story that appeals to customers and consumers.”

Ondruskova adds from her experience as a startup: “Keep pivoting, test your assumptions and improve constantly. And dare to make mistakes, but learn from them. In the beginning, we compensate errors out of our own pocket - that's expensive, but necessary to build a rock-solid model.” She emphasizes the importance of focus: “People sometimes expect you to have a full team right away. We consciously opt for a small core team. That makes you agile.”

Dare to get started

“The most important thing is that you start,” concludes van der Meulen. “In the US, you're not a real entrepreneur if you haven't failed once. In the Netherlands, there is immediately a cross after your name. But it's the fear of failure that prevents people from starting in the first place.” Ondruskova agrees: “You don't have to have everything perfect right away. Start small, learn fast, and stay close to your mission. The rest will follow naturally.”

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