Berlin-based startup VREY raises €3.3M to crack solar’s biggest untapped market

Berlin, April 23 2026 – Berlin-based climate tech startup VREY (RE Joule GmbH) has successfully closed a €3.3 million seed funding round, which was signed by Rubio Impact Ventures, High-Tech Gründerfonds (HTGF) and Kopa Ventures. . VREY enables property owners to deploy solar in multi-family buildings and supply the generated electricity directly to tenants, without taking on the role or regulatory burden of an energy supplier.

As a certified smart metering operator and billing partner, VREY provides an end-to-end solution tailored to tenant electricity models and “Gemeinschaftliche Gebäudeversorgung”, a new regulatory framework. The company currently has a three-digit number of projects across all 16 German federal states, serving private landlords, housing cooperatives, project developers, and large real estate companies. For installations, they work directly with their customers’ preferred installation partners.

A structural gap in the energy transition
Nearly half of Europeans share their roofs, but these roofs are rarely covered in solar. In Germany alone, there are close to 20 million rental units in multi-family buildings, with fewer than 2% powered by on-site solar. Adoption has historically been complex and economically unattractive. The only legal option for property owners was to act as (and take on the responsibility of) energy suppliers in order to pass solar power on to tenants. In practice, this was a burden most were not willing to take on. A recent change in German regulation removes that requirement for the first time, opening up a new, simpler structure (called “Gemeinschaftliche Gebäudeversorgung”).

Metering and billing infrastructure for solar in multi-family buildings
VREY provides the technology to turn this simpler structure from regulation to reality. The company operates as a certified smart metering operator and handles all billing via its software: measuring each tenant’s share of solar output and invoicing them directly. Property owners do not take on the responsibilities of energy suppliers, and tenants do not need to switch provider.

“The majority of property owners want to future-proof their buildings, but until now, practical solutions were missing. With VREY, we make solar in multi-family buildings simple and economically viable for the first time,” says Julius Pahmeier, Co-Founder and Managing Director of VREY.

The result is a genuine triple win: property owners earn a return on their solar investments, tenants pay lower electricity bills, and carbon emissions from residential power supply come down. VREY’s platform also supports the integration of batteries, heat pumps, and EV charging, and works with local installation partners for system deployment. VREY positions itself as the EnergyOS for multi-family buildings – a central infrastructure layer for measuring, billing, and managing energy flows.

Capital to scale team and platform
The €3.3M round is led by Rubio Impact Ventures, with participation from High-Tech Gründerfonds (HTGF) and Kopa Ventures. With this investment, VREY plans to expand its team of around 20 employees and further develop its platform. The goal is to strengthen its position as a leading provider of energy solutions for multi-family buildings and unlock additional energy use cases for property owners. The company currently has a three-digit number of projects across all 16 German federal states, serving private landlords, housing cooperatives, project developers, and large real estate companies. For installations, they work directly with their customers’ preferred installation partners.

“Shared roofs have long been one of the “impossible-to-go-solar” segments in the residential market. VREY has built a rapidly scalable solution in which everybody wins: tenants reduce their energy bills, property owners make more money without the liabilities of an energy supplier and everyone benefits from reduced carbon emissions. What convinced us ​​to lead this round was not just the model, but the speed and clarity with which Julius and Cedric have executed it. We look forward to being part of what comes next,” says Helmer Schukken, Partner at Rubio Impact Ventures.

Jan Kätker, Investment Manager at HTGF, adds: “”Solar for multi-family buildings belongs on every property owner’s roadmap today. The key is a solution that can be implemented without significant effort. VREY closes this gap and creates the foundation for broad scaling in both existing buildings and new construction. It’s impressive what the team led by Julius Pahmeier and Cedric Jaeger has already built — we look forward to supporting them on the next steps.””

“The introduction of GGV (gemeinschaftliche Gebäudeversorgung) marks a meaningful regulatory breakthrough in Germany, creating a new market environment that requires both expertise and execution. This is where the Vrey team stands out, combining deep expertise, pragmatism, and speed to navigate and shape this landscape. With our experience from multiple real estate investments, we see strong demand for solutions like Vrey and look forward to supporting the team as they scale.”, says Marius Weckel, Principal at Kopa Ventures.

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About VREY (RE Joule GmbH)
VREY is a leading provider of solar solutions for multi-family buildings. The company enables collective building supply (“gemeinschaftliche Gebäudeversorgung” and tenant electricity models (“Mieterstrom”) through a combination of certified smart metering operations and automated billing software. Founded in 2024 by Cedric Jaeger and Julius Pahmeier in Berlin, VREY has quickly become a pioneer of the new regulatory framework in Germany. With a team of around 20 employees and a three-digit number of projects across all 16 federal states, the company serves private landlords, housing cooperatives, project developers, and large real estate companies.
For more information, visit www.vrey.io.

Press Contact
Loris Mähler
Marketing Manager
loris.maehler@vrey-energie.de

About Rubio Impact Ventures
Rubio is a leading European impact venture capital firm managing €250 million across three funds. Rubio invests in early and growth-stage companies creating scalable solutions for urgent global challenges, from climate and circularity to education and well-being. The firm uniquely links 100% of its carried interest to independently verified impact results, ensuring financial success and positive impact go hand in hand. Learn more at rubio.vc

Press Contact
Sheila Klein Schiphorst (PR Rubio Impact Ventures)
+31 653390022; sheila@sheishere.nl

About HTGF – High-Tech Gründerfonds
High-Tech Gründerfonds (HTGF) is one of the leading early-stage investors in Germany and Europe. HTGF finances startups across Climate Tech, Deep Tech, Industrial Tech, Digital Tech, Life Sciences, and Chemistry, supporting them on their journey to becoming international market leaders. With over €2 billion in assets under management and more than 770 funded startups, HTGF is among the most active seed investors in Europe.

Press Contact
Tobias Jacob (Senior Marketing & Communications Manager)
+49 22882300121; t.jacob@htgf.de

About Kopa Ventures
kopa ventures is an established early-stage impact investor with a focus on European climate tech startups in the fields of Energy, Mobility, Nature and Carbon Tech. Notable investments include 1KOMMA5, ecoworks, Green Fusion, and LIMATICA. The kopa ventures team, located in Berlin, Munich, Mainz, and London, combines exceptional domain expertise, entrepreneurial acumen, and access to an extensive investment and expert network to support early-stage startups in achieving substantial positive financial and ecological impacts. For more information: www.kopa.vc

Pressekontakt Kopa
Marius Weckel (Principal)
marius@kopa.vc