Swift Solar raises $27M Series A to scale perovskite tandem solar manufacturing

Swift Solar, a U.S.-based perovskite solar technology company spun out of MIT, Stanford, and NREL, has closed a $27 million Series A funding round, bringing its total raised to $44 million. The round was co-led by Eni Next, the corporate venture arm of Italian energy major Eni, and Fontinalis Partners, a mobility and deeptech VC. Additional participants include Stanford University, Good Growth Capital, BlueScopeX, HL Ventures, Toba Capital, and several angel investors. The company plans to use the capital to scale its metal halide perovskite tandem solar cell technology and establish its first U.S. factory, targeting cells that can exceed 30% efficiency by combining perovskites with silicon or other perovskites.

This funding sits at the intersection of two important trends: the push for domestic solar manufacturing in the U.S. and the maturation of perovskite photovoltaics as a viable next-generation technology. Swift Solar is not an additive manufacturing company in the traditional sense — it does not use LPBF, DED, binder jetting, or any polymer AM process. However, its manufacturing approach for thin-film perovskite cells shares process-engineering challenges with AM: precise layer deposition, material uniformity, defect control, and scaling from lab to fab. The company’s technology could eventually compete with or complement silicon-based solar in applications ranging from utility-scale solar to building-integrated photovoltaics, electric vehicle roofs, and space-based power. The $27 million round is notable for its mix of corporate strategic investors (Eni Next) and mobility-focused VCs (Fontinalis), signaling interest in both stationary energy and transport-integrated solar. The company has also secured over $16 million in federal and state grants from the DOE, DoD, NSF, and California Energy Commission, indicating strong government confidence in the technology’s qualification path.

For the broader advanced manufacturing industry, Swift Solar’s progress is a reminder that thin-film deposition and layer-by-layer fabrication are not exclusive to 3D printing. The company’s ability to move from lab-scale cells to a pilot factory will depend on solving the same yield, throughput, and cost-per-part challenges that metal AM and electronics printing face. The practical next step is demonstrating that its tandem cells can maintain >30% efficiency over 25-year operational lifetimes at production scale — a qualification hurdle comparable to aerospace AM certification. If Swift Solar executes, it could open a new production-vertical for U.S.-based advanced manufacturing, but the technology remains pre-commercial until its first factory ships verified product.