Zonhub
- Company typePrivate
- Founded2014
- HeadquartersAmsterdam, Netherlands
- Headcount11–50
- GTM typeB2B
- OfferingServices
What Zonhub does
Zonhub (trading name of ZonnepanelenDelen B.V.) is a Dutch digital financing platform for sustainable energy projects, headquartered in Amsterdam. Founded in 2012 and operating under its current brand since an October 2024 rebrand, the company intermediates capital between investors and project developers, farmers, SMEs, and energy cooperatives seeking to finance solar, battery, and increasingly wind projects in the Netherlands. It has financed more than 275 sustainable energy projects totaling over €145 million since 2014 and serves a retail investor base of more than 12,000 participants alongside institutional partners including ING, Rabobank, BNG, ASN, and Triodos banks.
The company's core offering is a multi-product financing stack: Zonfonds (banking loans with Rabobank for €500k–€5M projects), Zon-Obligaties / ZonneDelen (AFM-licensed solar bonds from €25 for citizen participation), Zonhub Lease (financial lease for SMEs from €25k), and ZPD PRO (portfolio financing for developers). Underpinning these products is a proprietary technology layer comprising the HORIZON monitoring dashboard (live production data, performance ratios, ENDEX pricing, maintenance scheduling) and the Red Dot Design Award-winning ZonneDelen mobile app for retail investors. The platform also operates a Marktplaats marketplace for secondary-market solar project transactions. Regulatory licenses include the AFM investment services license (since May 2018) and the European ECSPR crowdfunding license (since January 2024), which together enable both domestic Dutch and pan-EU capital raising activities.
Zonhub makes money primarily through interest spreads and origination fees on the loan and lease book, platform and administration fees on ZonneDelen bond issuances, and (more recently) transaction fees on the marketplace. Go-to-market is sales-led for direct enterprise deals (developers, large SMEs) supplemented by a partner channel of 75+ installation companies, financial advisors, energy cooperatives, and energy suppliers (ENGIE, Greenchoice). The company employs 19–25 people, was co-founded by Sven Pluut (former Triodos Bank credit analyst) and Matthijs Olieman, and received a €20 million corporate investment from ING in November 2021.
Zonhub firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- Zonhub
- Legal name
- ZonnepanelenDelen B.V.
- Website
- https://financiering.zonhub.com
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 2014
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 11–50 employees
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
Zonhub industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Renewable Energy Project Financing
- NAICS
- Sales Financing (52222)
- SIC
- Short-Term Business Credit Institutions (6153)
- akta.pro primary industry
- B2B BNPL (Invoice Split/Net Terms for SMB Procurement) (FSAKACAJ)
Keywords
Where Zonhub is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Amsterdam
- HQ country
- Netherlands
- HQ region
- Europe
Offices1 record
Markets served
Zonhub business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2B
- Offering type
- Services
- Cost components
- Personnel, Technology or R&D, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Others
Revenue model
- Development Financing Fees: Providing capital for early-stage development phase of solar, storage, or wind projects (€1-5M range). Revenue generated from interest and fees on development financing.
- Project Financing (Zonfonds): Junior and senior bond loans for construction and operation of solar projects (€500k-5M range). Revenue from interest spreads and origination fees on project financing.
- Financial Lease (Zonlease): Lease financing for SMEs for solar installations (€25k-1M range). Monthly lease payments generate recurring revenue over the lease term.
- Zon-Obligaties (Bond Issuance): Facilitating bond issuance for solar projects with 15-year terms, connecting investors with project developers. Revenue from platform fees and administration charges.
- Portfolio Financing (ZPD PRO): Financing for portfolios of solar energy projects under development, targeting project developers building portfolios.
Pricing tiers
| Model | Billing | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Subscription | Multi-year contract | Development Financing: Capital for early development phase |
| Subscription | Multi-year contract | Project Financing: Junior and senior bond loans |
| Subscription | Monthly | Financial Lease: For SME businesses |
| One time/ perpetual license | Pay-as-you-go | Citizen Participation (ZonneDelen) |
Go-to-market motion2 records
Distribution channels5 records
Marketing channels6 records
Zonhub product offering
Product offeringCore offering
Zonhub (trading name of ZonnepanelenDelen B.V.) is a Dutch financing platform that provides tailored financing solutions for commercial sustainable energy projects including solar panels, battery storage, and wind installations. The company offers development financing (€1–5M), project financing via junior and senior bond loans (€500k–5M), financial lease for SMEs (€25k–1M), and portfolio financing (ZPD PRO). It also operates the ZonneDelen bond platform enabling citizen investment in solar projects from €25, all supported by proprietary monitoring software (HORIZON dashboard and ZonneDelen app).
Product overview
Zonhub (trading name of ZonnepanelenDelen B.V.) is a Dutch financing platform for sustainable energy projects that operates a platform-plus-products architecture. The core platform provides project financing and citizen participation services, supported by proprietary software (HORIZON dashboard and ZonneDelen app). The product portfolio includes four main financial products: Zonfonds (banking loans), Zon-Obligaties/ZonneDelen (solar bonds), Zonhub Lease (financial lease), and ZPD PRO (portfolio financing). Additional offerings include a marketplace for solar project transactions and citizen participation services. The platform has financed over 275 sustainable energy projects since 2014, with €145 million financed.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Brands
- Zonfonds: Banking loan product for solar energy projects with green financing options
- Zonlease
- ZonneDelen
- ZPD PRO
- HORIZON
Products and services
- Zonhub Lease Financial lease solution for sustainable energy projects (solar panels and batteries) starting from €25,000. Lessees become direct economic owners of the solar energy system from the start, benefiting from lower energy costs and tax advantages (VAT, depreciation, investment deductions) without initial investment. Lease terms up to 15 years with fixed monthly payments lower than SDE subsidy or energy cost savings.
- Zonfonds Green banking loan product for solar energy projects launched in collaboration with Rabobank. Provides financing at 85% with competitive interest rate, plus optional 13% via bond issuance. Targeted at project developers, landowners, SMEs, and agricultural businesses for the construction and exploitation phase of solar projects in the €500k–5M range.
- Zon-Obligaties (ZonneDelen) Solar bonds issued through Zonhub's AFM-licensed investment platform. Enables financing of commercial solar panels with SDE subsidy. Bonds start from €25 per unit with a minimum of €250,000 total per project and a 15-year term. Allows citizens to invest in commercial solar projects with real-time monitoring via the ZonneDelen platform.
- ZPD PRO Portfolio financing product for solar energy project developers building portfolios of solar installations under development and construction. Targets project developers managing multiple solar projects requiring coordinated financing.
- Marktplaats (Solar Project Marketplace) Online marketplace for buying and selling solar energy projects, facilitating secondary market transactions. Allows project owners and investors to transact operational solar projects.
- Burgerparticipatie (Citizen Participation Service) Financial citizen participation service for solar parks, enabling local communities to invest from €25 in ZonneDelen (solar bonds). Includes full administrative management of investors, real-time monitoring via the platform, and compliance with AFM regulations. Facilitates local community activation for permit approval of utility-scale solar parks.
Quantifiable outcome
- €145 million+ financed for sustainable energy
- +4 more outcomes
Companies that use Zonhub
Customer profileNamed customers10 records
Segments6 records
Ideal customer profiles3 records
Zonhub technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed Yes
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Feature3 records
Zonhub partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
Two partnerships are on record, tiered core.
- ENGIEcoreENGIE collaborates with Zonhub to promote citizen participation in solar parks to their customer base. They help market Zonhub's solar projects to their energy customers.
- GreenchoicecoreGreenchoice collaborates with Zonhub to market solar participation projects to their customers in specific municipalities.
Scale indicators10 records
Recent moves7 records
Expansion highlights6 records
Zonhub competitors and assessment
Company assessmentDirect peers
- Abundance Investment: UK-regulated platform offering fractional investment in individual renewable energy projects through debentures and bonds. Operates a nearly identical 'citizen participation' financing model for solar and wind assets.
- Sunvest: Dutch solar energy platform offering citizen participation bonds for solar parks. Most direct Dutch competitor using a near-identical model of fractional solar bonds, overlapping customer base, and shared regulatory environment.
- Bettervest: German crowd-investing platform focused on renewable energy and energy efficiency projects. Comparable in product structure (project-level financing via retail investor pools) and target customer (commercial property owners, project developers).
- SunFunder: Specialist solar project finance platform serving commercial and industrial solar developers globally. Comparable in its focus on intermediating capital between investors/lenders and mid-market solar project developers.
- Trine: Swedish-founded European crowdfunding platform for distributed solar and energy access projects. Closely comparable business model of pooling retail investors to finance small-to-mid commercial solar installations across Europe.
Broad incumbents
- Obton: Danish solar developer and investor with a large portfolio of European PV assets. Both a customer and investor in Zonhub, making Obton a hybrid peer/customer that operates a much larger in-house solar development and asset management platform.
- Lightsource BP: Global utility-scale solar developer owned by BP. Comparable as a major counterparty in the European solar project finance ecosystem, though at vastly larger scale and with overlapping developer customers of Zonhub.
- Rabobank: Major Dutch bank and core Zonhub partner providing capital for Zonfonds. Functions both as a capital provider and potential competitor in the Dutch sustainable energy project finance market.
- Triodos Bank: Dutch sustainable bank active in renewable energy project financing. Overlapping mission and customer base, and direct personal connection through Zonhub co-founder Sven Pluut's prior role as a Triodos credit analyst.
- Vattenfall: Swedish state-owned energy company active in European solar development and a partner on Zonnepark Almelo, one of Zonhub's milestone projects. Comparable as a large European utility participating in the same solar project ecosystem.
Market position
Strengths5 records
Weaknesses5 records
Competitive moat5 records
Key risks6 records
Key highlights7 records
Customer concentration
Zonhub social profiles
Digital presenceZonhub compliance and trust
Trust signalCompliance2 records
Zonhub financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
Zonhub leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles2 records
Zonhub funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds
Investors
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Zonhub M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about Zonhub
What does Zonhub do?
Zonhub (trading name of ZonnepanelenDelen B.V.) is a Dutch financing platform that provides tailored financing solutions for commercial sustainable energy projects including solar panels, battery storage, and wind installations. The company offers development financing (€1–5M), project financing via junior and senior bond loans (€500k–5M), financial lease for SMEs (€25k–1M), and portfolio financing (ZPD PRO). It also operates the ZonneDelen bond platform enabling citizen investment in solar projects from €25, all supported by proprietary monitoring software (HORIZON dashboard and ZonneDelen app).
Is Zonhub a public or private company?
Zonhub is a private company. It is classified as venture growth investor backed and is currently operating.
When was Zonhub founded?
Zonhub was founded in 2014. It employs 11 to 50 people.
Where is Zonhub based?
Zonhub is headquartered in Amsterdam, Netherlands, in the Europe region.
How does Zonhub make money?
Five revenue lines are on record. Development Financing Fees are the primary driver. The others are project Financing (Zonfonds), financial Lease (Zonlease), zon-Obligaties (Bond Issuance) and portfolio Financing (ZPD PRO).
Who are Zonhub's main competitors?
Direct peers on record are Abundance Investment, Sunvest, Bettervest, SunFunder and Trine. Broad incumbents are Obton, Lightsource BP, Rabobank, Triodos Bank and Vattenfall.
Does Zonhub have an API?
No public API is recorded for Zonhub.
What industry is Zonhub in?
Zonhub's product category is Renewable Energy Project Financing. Its primary akta.pro industry code is FSAKACAJ, B2B BNPL (Invoice Split/Net Terms for SMB Procurement). Its NAICS code is 52222 and its SIC code is 6153.