Far-sighted liquidity planning during rapid growth in the renewable energy sector: Sunfire
Oliver Schulte, Manager of Corporate Treasury and Finance at the scale-up Sunfire, explains how he is using Agicap to plan for the renewable energy company's rapid growth in the long term.
Read moreWatch the videoKey takeaways
Fast-growing companies like the renewable energy scaleup Sunfire need an agile, transparent management of the finance department.
The same flexibility and dynamism is expected from the cloud-based software solutions the scaleup uses to manage their various processes.
The simple implementation of Agicap made it possible to get a consolidated view of the holding company's and entities' cash on a daily basis.
Thanks to the connection to foreign banks with different currencies in Agicap, Sunfire can also easily map how the cash situation behaves in international locations such as Switzerland.
The greatest benefit is, on the one hand, to have the bank-related liquidity at a glance every day, in the entities as well as in the holding company. And on the other hand, of course, to have a reliable liquidity forecast.
500+
employees by 2023
4
sites must be managed
200+
million euros funds raised
Sunfire
Customer’s history
Sunfire is a German company from the renewable energy sector that was initially founded as a start-up in 2010. It specialises in the development and production of clean energy and industrial solutions. It was founded on the initiative of Carl Berninghausen, Christian von Olshausen and Nils Aldag, who already had experience in the energy industry and engineering. Their goal was to develop an innovative technology that would make it possible to use renewable energies cheaply and effectively.
Sunfire has become a leader in the renewable energy industry in recent years, specialising in the production of fuel cells and electrolysers. These technologies enable hydrogen to be used as a clean and environmentally friendly energy source, which is especially important in industrial production, the transport sector and power supply.
Sunfire has received numerous awards for its innovative products and solutions and works closely with leading companies in the energy sector to develop new ways of using renewable energy. The company has set itself the goal of shaping a sustainable and clean future and is thus making an important contribution to climate protection and the energy transition. The fast-growing scaleup is fuelled by fundings of over 200 million euros and a workforce of over 500 employees.
Sunfire is headquartered in Dresden and has subsidiaries in Germany and Switzerland. Oliver Schulte, who previously worked for 15 years as Manager of Corporate Treasury and Finance, joined the company a year ago. With the increasing complexity in cash flow management, Sunfire opted for Agicap as cash management software for the consolidation of financial data.
Customer’s needs
The basis for aggregating the financial data should be the bank accounts and not the financial accounting.
The monthly funding of Sunfire's subsidiaries should be monitored closely.
Data aggregation from the site in Switzerland in a foreign currency should be seamlessly integrated in the cash flow plan.
Solution
Thanks to Agicap's consolidation function, Oliver Schulte is able to monitor the monthly funding of Sunfire's subsidiaries. The historical and future liquidity of the subsidiaries can thus always be viewed transparently by the holding company. And due to the monthly planning on site at the locations, timely coordination with the local managing directors can also take place. The connection of Agicap also to foreign bank connections (EBICS / CHF) made the data aggregation from the location in Switzerland much easier.
Financing projects is also easier thanks to Agicap. The disposition of available funds with the tool, whether equity-financed or via future borrowed capital, enables more precise consideration and transparent planning of the use of state subsidies as well. In the event of project delays, a balance between payments and disbursements can be restored more quickly.
Conclusion
Scaleups like Sunfire with higher dynamics due to unpredictable rapid growth need a daily updated view of the cash situation.
Automating the data aggregation of the holding company and subsidiaries enables a faster and more transparent view of the cash situation at every level of the company.
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