We are delighted to announce new equity investment from Shell. The round also included existing investors Schneider Electric and Better Ventures, each of which strengthened their commitment to SunFunder through a third successive investment.
SunFunder finances Questworks' growing C&I solar pipeline
Earlier last month, SunFunder has set up a $1.2 million facility for Questworks to support their financing needs as they fulfil a strong pipeline of C&I solar projects in Nairobi. This will help the company complete more sector-leading installations. Questworks also comes with a strong EPC background in real estate development in Kenya.
SunFunder shares lessons on blended finance in white paper
SunFunder is excited to share a new white paper “Scaling Energy Access with Blended Finance: SunFunder and the Role of Catalytic Capital”, reporting on its latest efforts to leverage catalytic capital from the DOEN Foundation, Facebook, The Packard Foundation and The Rockefeller Foundation, among others, to blend in other investors essential to reaching scale.
This paper focuses on lessons from SunFunder’s experience having unlocked over $62m by the end of 2017 through a series of innovative aggregated debt funds which have offered investors a route into the sector. Drawing on the experience from its current funds and more recent engagements with future investors, SunFunder also presents some considerations for moving forward with new partnerships.
Former Rabobank Africa CEO joins SunFunder as CFO
We are delighted to announce the appointment of Ritesh Shah to our senior leadership team as SunFunder’s new Chief Financial Officer. Ritesh brings over 25 years of global leadership experience in the financial services industry, with former roles including CEO of Rabobank Africa and CFO of Rabobank North America and Europe.
A spotlight on our 2017 solar investments
We are delighted to share the progress we’ve made over the last year in our 2017 Annual Review – which includes case studies on some of our off-grid residential, commercial-scale and productive use solar investments.
Greenlight Planet’s $60m round, our fourth transaction together
Long-time SunFunder partner and leading off-grid solar company Greenlight Planet announced this week it had raised $60 million, which included our fourth loan together. The round of equity and debt financing was led by London-based private equity fund manager Apis Partners.
Ryan Levinson, Founder & CEO of SunFunder, commented:
“Our first loan to Greenlight was in 2014 and we are delighted to continue growing our relationship with a great business that is truly scaling its impact.”
SunFunder arranges the first multi-currency syndicated off-grid solar loan, in West Africa
We are pleased to announce that SunFunder has led an $8 million syndication for leading off-grid solar company PEG Africa in West Africa.
SunFunder arranged the large multi-currency syndicated loan – an industry first – to bring in five other lenders, including responsAbility, Oikocredit, Global Partnerships and Palladium Impact Investments.
The debt facility formed the larger part of a $13.5 million fundraise by PEG Africa, which also included Series B equity financing.
SunFunder leads $6m syndicated receivables financing facility for SolarNow
Leading off-grid solar company SolarNow and investor SunFunder announce new syndicated receivables financing facility with Oikocredit and responsAbility Investments.
SunFunder has arranged its first syndication, for leading off-grid solar company SolarNow in Uganda. Oikocredit and responsAbility Investments were the other investors. Ryan Levinson, SunFunder CEO, commented:
“Our customers need more scalable, less time-consuming financing options so they can focus on their core business delivering solar energy. By leading syndications, SunFunder offers solar companies larger ticket size loans with less hassle, and gives investors a route into the market.”
From beverage makers to international hotels: commercial solar takes off in the Pacific
SunFunder financing enables Sunergise to launch solar projects totalling 2.4MW in Fiji and 783kW in Vanuatu
As well as energy access for off-grid communities, there is a huge opportunity for solar power to provide more reliable power and displace diesel generation for businesses. Cleaner and cheaper solar energy not only cuts carbon emissions, but also supports economic growth as businesses benefit from uninterrupted power supply.
SunFunder has been working with leading Pacific solar energy provider Sunergise to finance the roll out of these installations across the region. The first two projects were launched recently at the Iririki hotel in Vanuatu and Coca-Cola AMATIL’s plant in Fiji.
Andrea Griffin, SunFunder Vice President for Global Business Development, commented:
“Our partnership with Sunergise is an exciting opportunity to scale the deployment of commercial and industrial solar systems with a leading developer in the Pacific, a region where the economics for solar are so strong. We see immense potential for many types of enterprises to lower their dependence on diesel by installing solar to power their day-to-day operations.”
SunFunder chosen as Bloomberg 2017 New Energy Pioneer
We are delighted to announce that SunFunder has been selected as one of Bloomberg New Energy Finance’s 10 New Energy Pioneers for 2017.
Receiving the award at BNEF’s Future of Energy Summit in New York today, SunFunder CEO Ryan Levinson commented:
“We are grateful for the recognition of what we have been doing to provide scalable financing for the beyond-grid solar sector. This comes at an inflection point for us and the industry, as we are offering high-value lending solutions to our customers and larger fixed income opportunities for institutional investors.”