From a high-school sketch to raising $750,000 dollars in pre-seed funding. When did Solenery shift from a personal vision to a venture-backed company?
I first sketched the name Solenery as a teenager because I believed energy could be made simpler, cleaner, and more accessible for everyone. The shift from idea to venture happened when we proved two things at once. First, Canadians need a clear, trustworthy way to understand costs, incentives, and savings at the postal-code level. Second, providers need qualified demand that shows up ready to act. When those two sides aligned, it became obvious that a purpose-built platform could accelerate adoption at scale. That realization unlocked our commitment to raise capital and build the foundations properly.
You say Solenery uses AI to analyze rooftops and simplify adoption. How does it work behind the scenes and what is different about it?
We turn a postal code into a feasibility snapshot that makes sense in minutes. We combine geospatial and market data with policy and incentive intelligence to estimate cost ranges, available rebates, and expected savings, then present the results in a clean, comparable format. The second part is just as important: we connect people with vetted providers and give providers well-qualified projects, which reduces soft friction on both sides. Canada is moving toward cleaner electricity and deeper electrification, and clarity at the edge is what turns national targets into real projects.
You studied entrepreneurship and have founded before. How have past ventures and global experiences shaped how you build Solenery?
Entrepreneurship taught me to keep one foot in vision and the other in execution, and perhaps most importantly, that success starts with finding a real problem big enough to matter. From there, you act small, taking practical steps that compound into real change. Studying and working across different ecosystems reinforced that technology only matters when it removes friction for real people. At Solenery, that shows up in our product choices: we focus on trustworthy estimates, privacy by design, and a seamless handoff to vetted providers. We’d rather be right and simple than loud and complicated.
Clean-energy adoption in Canada faces cost concerns and hesitation. How does Solenery address these barriers and where does technology fit in the path to net-zero?
Up-front cost and complexity are the biggest blockers, but they’re not what they used to be. With today’s advancements in solar and heat pump technology, the economics often make sense even in the short term, and in every case, the long-term savings are clear. Current loans, grants, and incentives remove much of the financial barrier, and Solenery makes them easy to understand and access.
Our platform reduces uncertainty at the start with clear estimates and incentive guidance, then reduces hassle by connecting customers to vetted providers and helping those providers qualify projects faster. All of this aligns with Canada’s clean-electricity strategy and 2030 emissions targets: we help people act within that policy context by making the next step obvious, low-risk, and financially logical.
Your vision over the next five years. Will you expand beyond residential rooftops into commercial, industrial, or other markets?
We already support both residential and commercial use cases today. Over the next five years we will deepen coverage across provinces, expand our provider network, and continue improving the accuracy and transparency of our estimates. On the provider side we will invest in tools that reduce qualification effort and shorten cycle times, because every hour saved there turns into more projects on the ground. Studies suggest Canada has very large potential across residential, commercial, and institutional buildings. Our job is to help translate that potential into bankable projects for customers and providers.
Yugbodh (YB) is a contributing writer at Tech Beat Canada, he skillfully weaves captivating stories. For him tech, music and movies serves as an escape, and he finds them fascinating as they constantly evolve. If you have interesting tales to share, feel free to reach out: info@techbeat.ca
