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Saule Technologies (commercialization of perovskite solar cells)

cancelled abandonedwritten off

Saule Technologies is a Polish deep-tech company founded in 2014 around the inkjet-printing method for flexible, ultra-thin perovskite photovoltaic cells invented by Olga Malinkiewicz. The project's goal was the mass commercialization of this technology and the launch of a factory; in practice, only a pilot production line operated in Wrocław rather than a full-scale plant. The main strategic investor was the listed company Columbus Energy. Despite more than PLN 270 million in financing from public and private investors, the company did not achieve profitability — for 2024 it reported a net loss of PLN 65.8 million against revenues of PLN 1.27 million. In 2025 a sharp shareholder dispute broke out: in May 2025 the supervisory board removed co-founder Olga Malinkiewicz from the management board, notifications were filed with the prosecutor's office, and share trading was suspended in June 2025. On 26 June 2026 the shares were ultimately delisted from the NewConnect market due to the failure to submit financial reports for 2024 and 2025. The company found itself on the brink of bankruptcy and — according to reports — will most likely be placed into bankruptcy or restructuring; no formal bankruptcy has been declared, and the mass commercialization of perovskites has not yet been achieved.

Why it failed

The company did not achieve mass commercialization of perovskite technology nor launch the planned factory — only a pilot production line operated in Wrocław. For 2024 Saule Technologies reported a net loss of PLN 65.8 million against revenues of PLN 1.27 million. In May 2025 the supervisory board removed co-founder Olga Malinkiewicz from the management board, and a dispute among shareholders led to notifications being filed with the prosecutor's office. Share trading was suspended in June 2025, and on 26 June 2026 the shares were delisted from the NewConnect market due to the failure to submit financial reports for 2024 and 2025. The company found itself on the brink of bankruptcy and — according to media reports — will most likely be placed into bankruptcy or restructuring; no formal bankruptcy has been declared.

How it went

Assessment: provisional. Signals only where documented.

Delivery not delivered
Utilisation not operational
Losses known sunk cost · 250 mln PLN

Timeline

  1. Construction start 2014

Significance

Saule Technologies was the flagship Polish venture in perovskite photovoltaics and one of the most recognizable domestic deep-tech projects, based on the internationally acclaimed cell-printing method developed by Olga Malinkiewicz. The aspiration was for Poland to be the first in the world to mass-commercialize perovskite solar cells. Despite more than PLN 270 million in public and private financing gathered over a decade (from 2014), the project did not move from pilot to industrial scale — no factory was built, and the company found itself on the brink of bankruptcy and was delisted from the stock exchange. It is one of the most significant Polish examples of the difficulty of turning a breakthrough laboratory technology into a profitable industrial business.

Sources 9 · 9 archived

Every fact on this card comes from the sources below. Next to each source — which fields it supports.

  1. money.pl Jun 2026
    StatusReason for failureOutcome
    Status „W piątek, 26 czerwca, akcje Saule Technologies zostały ostatecznie wykluczone z obrotu na alternatywnym rynku Giełdy Papierów Wartościowych."
    Reason for failure „obrót akcjami Saule był zawieszony już od czerwca 2025 r."
    Reason for failure „rada nadzorcza odwołała Olgę Malinkiewicz z zarządu"
  2. orestrukturyzacji.pl 10 Jul 2025
    StatusReason for failureConstruction startOutcome
    Status „Innowacyjna firma Saule Technologies znalazła się na skraju bankructwa"
  3. Gramwzielone.pl
    Reason for failureInvestor
    Investor „Olga Malinkiewicz, wiceprezes Saule SA oraz największy akcjonariusz Saule Technologies SA, złożyła zawiadomienie do Prokuratury Krajowej w Warszawie."
    Investor „Columbus Energy zainwestował w Saule Technologies 10 mln euro, uzyskując 20% udziałów."
    locations „Pilotażowa linia produkcyjna została uruchomiona przez Saule w zakładzie we Wrocławiu kilka lat temu."
    Reason for failure „Dotyczy ono podejrzenia działania na szkodę spółek Saule SA oraz Saule Technologies SA."
    Reason for failure „W czwartym kwartale 2024 r. – spółka miała 17,8 mln zł straty netto, co zwiększyło stratę za cały zeszły rok do 65,8 mln zł."
  4. Bankier.pl
    Reason for failure
  5. enerad.pl
    Reason for failureInvestor
  6. wnp.pl
    StatusReason for failureDescriptionOutcome
    Reason for failure „spółka znajduje się dziś w bardzo trudnej sytuacji i najprawdopodobniej zostanie postawiona w stan upadłości lub restrukturyzacji"
    Reason for failure „do Saule Technologies wpłynęło ponad 270 mln zł - w tym ponad 100 mln zł od inwestorów prywatnych (Columbus, polskiej spółki DC24, i japońskiej grupy HIS) oraz pozostała część ze środków publicznych"
  7. enerad.pl
    Reason for failureDescriptionOutcome
    Reason for failure „W 2024 roku Saule osiągnęło 1,27 mln zł przychodów, notując stratę netto na poziomie 65,79 mln zł."
    Delivery „Saule Technologies nie rozpoczęło budowy fabryki modułów perowskitowych z powodu niewywiązania się inwestora z kluczowego zobowiązania finansowego."
    Losses „Na rozwój i budowę pilotażowej fabryki wydano około 250 mln zł, z czego jedynie 60 mln zł pochodziło ze środków publicznych."
  8. Saule Technologies
    InvestorConstruction start
  9. Perovskite-Info
    Construction start
    Construction start „Saule Technologies has been working on the application of ink-jet printing for fabricating free-form perovskite solar modules since 2014."