He Raised €18.6M+ For A Deeptech Startup During Greeks Crisis

He raised millions for deeptech hardware in the middle of a Greek financial crisis. Greece’s 10-year bonds were above 18%, investors wanted software-only, and everyone told him to leave and build in the US instead. In this episode of Deal Makers (& Fakers), Niclas talks with Dr. Nick Kanopoulos, founder & CEO of Brite Solar, about how he still built a solar factory in Patras and closed an €8.6M Series A plus more than €10M in grants and R&D funding.We go deep into:How a Duke-trained engineer went from semiconductors in the US to launching Brite Solar back in Greece for family reasons – right when the macro looked worst.Why agrivoltaics and semi-transparent solar glass can boost crop yields, save water, and generate energy on the same land.How he self-funded ~€1.2M, survived years of R&D, and then convinced the ultra-selective EU EIC Fund (sub-5% acceptance) to lead his €8.6M Series A.The brutal reality of raising capital-intensive hardware money in Europe when local VCs mostly want software, platforms, and “asset-light”.How he defends against Chinese competition on price, IP, and manufacturing flexibility – and why their line was designed from day one for agrivoltaics, not generic PV.What investors really asked in the final EIC panel, including patents, China, gender balance, governance, and scaling risk.His metric founders forget to show in their pitch decks – the valuation-to-investment multiples of comparable companies – and how he uses it to shut down “your valuation is too high”.His unfiltered advice to hardware & deeptech founders: OEM vs. your own factory, when to pull the Series A trigger, and why “the name of the game is: don’t give up”.If you want to learn how to raise serious money for real-world, capex-heavy tech when basically everything is stacked against you, this is the episode.Learn more about Brite Solar:https://www.britesolar.com/About spectup / your host: I’m Niclas, building spectup into a new kind of capital advisory. Follow along if you’re raising, investing, or just curious how the game really works. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit niclasschlopsna.substack.com This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit dealmakersandfakers.substack.com