Industry overview
What is shaping energy
The energy transition brings rooftop solar, clean cooking, EV charging and efficient appliances to homes and businesses. Adoption depends on cost, trust, financing and after-sales support.
- Rooftop solar adoption depends on financing and installer trust
- Clean cooking programmes need sustained use, not just connections
- Businesses are setting their own transition targets
Client background
A battery energy storage start-up, working in Bengaluru. Client identity is withheld to protect confidentiality.
- Organisation
- A battery energy storage start-up
- Sector
- Energy
- Team engaged
- Finance & Accounts
- Services
- Financial modelling, Virtual CFO services, Corporate finance advisory
Client challenge
The start-up had pilot projects with factories but needed to show investors how projects would be financed and returns earned. Investors wanted to understand project-level returns, customer savings and how the business would scale.
Research objectives
- Deliver on the brief: financial planning for a battery storage start-up.
- Establish accurate, reconciled numbers management can rely on.
- Put a reporting and compliance rhythm in place that runs on time.
Target audience
Scope: Commercial and industrial storage projects.
Audiences we typically reach in energy
HouseholdsSmall businessesInstallers and channel partnersProgramme beneficiariesEnergy managers
Geographic coverage
Coverage: Bengaluru. Market: India.
- India
Research methodology
A structured finance engagement: review the current process, set up controls, run the routine and report.
- 1Brief
- 2Project-level model
- 3Investor materials
- 4Insight
We built a project-level model covering capital costs, savings for customers, financing and maintenance, with scenarios for battery prices and tariffs. The model separated proven assumptions from pilot data and those still to be tested, and included sensitivity analysis on key drivers. We also prepared a short investor memo explaining customer economics in plain language.
Financial modellingVirtual CFO servicesCorporate finance advisory
Sampling strategy
- Every ledger, entity and transaction stream in scope was covered, with sample-based checks during review.
Data collection
- Source documents, bank statements and ledgers were collected through a secure shared workspace.
Data quality & validation
- Maker-checker review on all entries
- Bank and ledger reconciliations
- Client approval before every filing or report
- Supporting documents kept for every figure
Data analysis
- Variance analysis against budget and prior periods
- Ratio and trend analysis
- Cash-flow view for management
Key findings
- Investors gained confidence in project economics, and the start-up raised funding for its next deployments.
- The model became the basis for board reporting and planning new projects.
Project-level economics made a new technology investable.
Recommendations
- Build on the core insight: project-level economics made a new technology investable.
- Keep the monthly routine and review exceptions with management every period.
Business impact
- Due diligence questions were answered quickly because assumptions were clearly documented.
Impact is described qualitatively.
Deliverables & next steps
- Monthly MIS pack and reconciled books
- Compliance calendar and filings
- Repeat the measure after changes are in place to track progress.
- A natural follow-on question: do households keep using clean cooking fuel?
Client identity is withheld to protect confidentiality.