Brighter Energy is a platform that empowers solar contractors by offering photovoltaic installation services with real-time data on budgets and addressing space constraints during solar installations. In an insightful interview, we talked with Georges Khoury and Maurice Saad the co-founders of Brighter Energy, as they revealed their innovative solution, the challenges they encountered, and how they triumphed over them.
Q: Can you tell us about Brighter Energy?
A: Brighter Energy is a Saas platform designed to support small companies that lack engineering resources in solar photovoltaic installations. We help increase the revenue of solar contractors by providing various services, including lead generation, proposal preparation, prioritizing inspection visits, and an API that instantly provides end-users with budget estimates while addressing space constraints during solar installations.
Q: What led you to work on this solution?
A: Our journey with Brighter Energy began when we noticed inefficiencies that hindered the work of solar contractors. Our ultimate goal is to promote transparency and optimization throughout the value chain, thus encouraging the adoption of solar PV technology.
Q: Who benefits from your solution, and why is it important?
A: Our engineering team supports contractors in creating winning proposals and obtaining execution permits, saving them time and money. Additionally, we equip contractors with IoT solutions to enable their end-users to optimize their solar energy consumption, ensuring a better return on their investment.
Q: If you had to highlight one significant achievement during your entrepreneurship journey, what would it be, and what lesson did you learn from it?
A: Brighter Energy initially started as a B2C portal, providing end-users with sales quotes for solar installations. However, when it didn’t yield the desired impact, we successfully pivoted our focus to a new demographic – B2B, targeting contractors as our customers and providing them with software and IoT tools to enhance solar delivery.
Q: What were the main challenges you faced so far?
A: Our primary challenges were related to fundraising and finding the right talent. As a company based in Lebanon but operating in North America and Europe, we sometimes encountered difficulties in attracting suitable investors and hiring engineering and IT talent from the Lebanese market.
Q: How did you overcome these challenges and what did you do to keep going?
A: To overcome the financial constraints, we bootstrapped the company until we launched the commercial version of our product. Regarding talent acquisition, we are actively seeking qualified candidates from Lebanon to join our team.
Q: Why did you apply to the ScaleSmart program, and what were your expectations?
A: We applied to the ScaleSmart program to leverage the Berytech network and overcome the challenges we faced in fundraising and talent acquisition.
Q: What are your long-term goals as a startup?
A: Our ultimate long-term goal is to maximize the impact of solar power by simplifying and cost-effectively facilitating the installation and optimal operation of solar PV systems.
The ACT Smart Innovation Hub
The ScaleSmart program is under the ACT Smart Innovation Hub, a comprehensive initiative launched by Berytech aimed at enabling the Lebanese entrepreneurial ecosystem, revitalizing the funding and investment sector, stimulating innovation and startup creation, and strengthening the competitiveness, growth, and market access for innovative businesses in the agriculture, food and clean technology sectors in Lebanon.
