Planno lands Incubayt backing, expands solar AI platform to 16 markets
What's the deal? UAE-based climatetech PlannoDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom → has raised an early-stage round from IncubaytDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom → Investments, the sustainability-focused venture firm founded by Sami KhoreibiDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →. It marks Incubayt's first investment in geospatial AI for solar.
What does Planno do? Founded in 2023 by Daniel DominguesDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →, the Dubai-headquartered startup runs a geospatial AI platform that combines satellite imagery with local market data. It helps solar developers, engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) firms, and public agencies pinpoint high-potential commercial and industrial rooftops for solar installations.
Where's the money going? The investment funds international expansion. Since Incubayt came on board, Planno has grown from the GCC into 16 markets across the Middle East, Europe, Africa, and the United States, serving customers from regional developers to global energy operators.
Why now? Global electricity demand is climbing as AI data centres come online and geopolitical tension pushes energy costs higher. "Rooftop solar is one of the few cost-control levers a commercial operator actually owns," said Domingues.
The opportunity: Planno's analysis shows how much rooftop capacity sits idle. Of Dubai's 15,283 commercial and industrial rooftops, only 5.6% host solar today, leaving 4 GW unbuilt — even as solar-equipped rooftops in the city grew 39% between late 2023 and the first quarter of 2025.
What's the investor thesis? Khoreibi built the Arab world's first utility-scale solar developer before exiting it to a UK pension fund. "The solar industry has never been short of capital or sunlight. What it has lacked is intelligence," he said. "Where to build, and who owns the roof."
The signal: Planno's raise reflects a wider bet that the value in clean energy is shifting toward the data layer. As rooftop solar stays largely untapped across Gulf cities, the firms mapping where to build may capture as much value as those doing the building.
Read more: Wamda
