Vaja raises €3.1M seed to bring vertical solar tracking to northern latitudes
What's the deal? Vaja, a Swedish energy startup that has developed a vertical solar tracking system optimised for northern latitudes, has raised $3.1M in a seed round. Footprint Firm led the round, with node.vc also participating.
The company's technology follows the sun's position across the sky throughout the day, directing panels toward the source to capture significantly more energy than fixed installations. While horizontal solar panels have become standard near the equator, Vaja wants its vertical trackers to become the default everywhere else.
The funds will go toward accelerating Vaja's product launch, validation, and customer installations, as well as growing the team. In total, the company has raised €6M across funding, investments, and grants.
Why now? Solar energy adoption is surging globally, but standard panel setups still underperform at higher latitudes where the sun sits lower in the sky and shifts position dramatically across seasons. Vaja argues that its tracker technology addresses a gap that affects a huge share of the world's geography — and potential solar capacity.
The startup was founded by Henrik Eskilsson, former chief executive officer and co-founder of eye-tracking company Tobii, alongside Soldag founder Anders Olsson. The company broke ground on its first installations in early 2025.
What could go wrong? Solar tracking systems add mechanical complexity and maintenance costs compared to fixed panels. Vaja will need to prove that the extra energy harvested justifies the higher upfront price — especially in markets where cheap fixed panels dominate on cost per watt.
Scaling hardware manufacturing and installation is also notoriously capital-intensive, meaning Vaja may need to raise again soon.
The signal: Climate tech investors are increasingly looking beyond commodity solar panels toward systems that squeeze more output from existing infrastructure. With The Footprint FirmDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom → — a dedicated impact-focused investment fund — leading the round, Vaja's raise reflects growing investor appetite for hardware optimisation plays in underserved northern European markets, where standard fixed-panel setups leave significant energy potential on the table.
Read more: breakit.se
