Startups Magazine
Now Reading
Reonic raises €13m Series A to help deploy sustainable energy solutions across Europe
Startups Magazine

Subscribe today

Startups Magazine

Reonic raises €13m Series A to help deploy sustainable energy solutions across Europe

by
September 5, 2024

Anna Wood is the Editor of Startups Magazine. She joined…

Founded in 2021 in Augsburg, Bavaria, by Tristan Menzinger, Lars-Manuel Schneider, and Udo Sill, Reonic was built to empower SME renewable energy installers. The founders, who met while studying Industrial Engineering, aimed to simplify the increasingly complex renewable energy landscape, enabling installers to streamline operations and drive the energy transition forward.

Reonic’s platform functions as a comprehensive operating system tailored to the needs of renewable energy installers, helping them digitise their workflows and boost efficiency. Focused primarily on regional installers, the platform targets over 200,000 companies across Europe.

The startup has experienced significant growth, having tripled its recurring revenue in the past six months. In addition to scaling its original mission, Reonic plans to use the newly raised funds to expand into new markets, starting with France, and to grow its team, which currently has 21 members. Earlier this year, the company also opened a second office in Berlin to support its ongoing expansion.

Commenting on the raise, Lars-Manuel Schneider, Co-Founder of Reonic said: “Renewable technologies are one of the fastest growing markets in Europe, which is almost exclusively served by independent installers across the continent, which almost always lack digital tooling

“Our goal is to enable these installers to compete, grow, and win. First, by creating best-in-class software as the backbone of their workflows. And second, by offering adjacent services in procurement, payment, financing, and beyond. 

“Though we’ve had some real momentum since we started the business three years ago, in truth, we feel like we’re just getting started. We couldn’t be happier having Northzone, Point Nine, and Puzzle Ventures in our corner to help propel us, and our customers, to the next level.”

See Also
When global labour market data is released, headlines tend to fixate on a single metric: unemployment. This year is no different. According to the latest figures from the United Nations and the International Labour Organisation, global unemployment remains relatively stable at just under five per cent. At face value, this suggests a labour market that is holding firm despite economic uncertainty, geopolitical instability and technological upheaval. In reality, it masks a serious and underreported problem: the true global jobs crisis is not a lack of work, but the growing scale of informal work. More than 2.1 billion people worldwide are employed in the informal economy, including misclassified workers operating outside effective regulatory coverage, where employment is typically unregistered, contracts are absent or unenforced, and access to labour rights and social protections is limited or non-existent. That represents a large portion of the global workforce. If unemployment reveals how many people cannot find work, informality shows how many are working without protection or long-term opportunity. Informal work is often associated with developing economies or unregulated sectors. However, this form of work is increasingly occurring within developed economies and regulated sectors, hidden within otherwise legitimate, fast-growing small and medium-sized enterprises – and this is often unintentional. For both businesses operating solely in domestic markets and those that have expanded abroad, adopting new workforce models and attempting to respond to rapid technological change, the crisis of informality is emerging in three key areas. The first is worker misclassification. Individuals are engaged as independent contractors but operate in practice like employees – working fulltime, at set hours, for years at a time. This is particularly prevalent in gig and platform-based roles, where algorithms determine pay, hours and performance without considering employment rights. Gig and platform work often presents as flexible and empowering, however, in practice, many platforms exercise employer-like control over payment, performance management, hours, and length of engagement, while explicitly avoiding employer obligations such as tax filings and the provision of statutory benefits like annual leave and healthcare. The result is a growing cohort of workers who fall between legal categories, carrying the risks of self-employment without the autonomy or protections that should accompany this mode of work. The second area is cross-border remote work, where informality can inadvertently arise. With post-COVID remote working models here to stay, companies are directly hiring overseas talent, assuming that because the worker is not based in the company’s home country, local employment laws do not apply. Where employment is not properly registered (whether by the employer and/or employee), local labour law is not applied, or social security obligations are misunderstood or ignored, these arrangements can slip into a form of modern informality, even where the relationship appears to be formal on the surface. This is often the point at which organisations begin to seek external guidance. In many cases, neither party fully understands the legal implications of the arrangement, which leaves both employer and worker exposed. We frequently see organisations approach us when a specific issue surfaces, such as payroll inconsistencies, questions around benefits entitlement, or concerns raised by the workers themselves, including registration process failures. Business leaders should also be aware that permanent establishment risk can arise if a remote employee is deemed to represent the company locally, which can trigger corporate tax obligations. Social security errors can happen when contributions are not made correctly in either jurisdiction, leaving workers without coverage and employers facing backdated liabilities. Meanwhile, employment law conflicts can emerge when contracts fail to meet the requirements of the host country regarding notice periods, benefits or termination rights. The third driver of informality is structural. These arrangements are becoming more common as artificial intelligence and evolving workforce models outpace regulation. Businesses are innovating at speed, but legal frameworks are struggling to keep pace. The UK’s Employment Rights Act offers a clear case study of the direction of travel. Worker protections are expanding, classification rules are tightening and enforcement is becoming more coordinated across agencies. Informal arrangements that once sat in legal grey areas are moving firmly into view and what was previously tolerated is falling under scrutiny. The challenge is that informality is rarely a deliberate choice. For many growing organisations, it becomes the default because compliant pathways are complicated and difficult to navigate alone, particularly across multiple jurisdictions. Legal advice, payroll, tax, HR, and immigration compliance are often siloed, leaving gaps that businesses may not even realise exist until a problem arises. For instance, digital nomad visas are often viewed as providing holders with wholly compliant right to work status, however employers may not realise that this is not always the case and contracts may not reflect the correct legal status or entitlements. Addressing informality requires a change in how we think about employment at a global level and recognising that flexibility and compliance are not mutually exclusive. Businesses need models that allow them to access global talent quickly while ensuring workers are properly employed and protected under local law. As attention remains fixed on unemployment figures, informality continues to expand beneath the surface. It is this hidden cohort of workers, contributing economically without security or rights, that represents the real crisis in the global labour market. Solving it will require coordinated action from policymakers and businesses alike, and a commitment to building workforce models that are not only innovative, but sustainable and fair.
Neupulse raises £3 million for delivery of neurotherapeutic technology

Markus Gleim, Principal at Northzone, said: “The energy transition is one of the most significant challenges and opportunities of our time. Reonic is at the forefront of this movement, offering a solution that not only simplifies the adoption of renewable technologies, but one that also drives significant progress towards a more sustainable future. We are proud to back a team that is making such a profound impact on the energy landscape.”

Jessica Schultz, Partner at Northzone, added: “Reonic’s end-to-end software is precisely what installers have been searching for. It streamlines workflows and provides the digital tools necessary to manage the increasing complexity of renewable energy projects. We believe that the team with their complementary skillset is uniquely positioned to build the category-leading software solution in this space. We are excited to support Reonic as they continue to innovate and empower installers across Europe.”

2024-09-05

Startups Magazine

Startups Magazine. All rights reserved. c 2026. Company number is: 06755141

Scroll To Top