From: Mercom Capital Group

GoodLeap (formerly Loanpal) – a California-based solar loan origination platform that finances solar systems and batteries – announced an investment round of more than $800 million, placing its valuation at $12 billion. The round was led by MSD Partners, with funds managed by BDT Capital Partners, Davidson Kempner Capital Management, and additional investors, including current shareholders. The secondary transaction brings a new set of investors who can help GoodLeap’s expansion from residential solar and battery storage into the broader market for sustainable home improvement and other carbon-reducing products and electric vehicles. BDT & Company served as placement agent in this transaction.

Urban Grid, a greenfield renewable energy project developer, has extended its partnership with Crayhill Capital Management, a New York-based, minority-owned private credit manager focused on asset-based investments in the renewable energy sector. The financing provides Urban Grid with $275 million capital that will be deployed to advance projects into the construction phase and continue the scale-up of Urban Grid’s solar and energy storage platform.

Leap, an energy market access platform, announced that it had secured a new capital raise totaling $33.5 million from a combination of equity and debt. The Series B funding was led by Park West Asset Management, a Northern California-based investment management firm, with participation from Climate Capital, My Climate Journey, and ​​David Helgason, Founder, and ex-CEO of Unity Technologies, along with existing investors Union Square Ventures, Congruent Ventures, and National Grid Partners. Silicon Valley Bank funded the debt portion of the capital raise.

Grasshopper Energy, a fully integrated clean energy company, focused on the development, acquisition and long-term ownership of projects, closed a $48 million financing deal with Fifth Third Bank. Grasshopper Energy intends to accelerate its growth plans to deploy further solar energy plants along the Northeast Coast in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and New York while expanding development efforts in other states. This specific investment structured with Fifth Third Bank will support four of Grasshopper’s innovative projects located in Massachusetts. The projects will provide clean energy to the people of Massachusetts and feature large-scale solar-plus-battery storage.

Reliance New Energy Solar Limited (RNESL), the green energy arm of Reliance Industries, has signed an agreement with Shapoorji Pallonji and Company Private Limited (SPCPL) to acquire a 40% stake in Sterling and Wilson Solar through a combination of primary investment, a secondary purchase, and an open offer. The acquisition will help Reliance access talent, engineering, project management, execution skills, and digital technology. This will also help Reliance implement giga-scale solar energy capacity in India and worldwide. To acquire the 40% stake, 29.3 million equity shares will be allotted to RNESL at ₹375 (~$4.99) per share, equal to 15.46% post preferential share capital. In addition, RNESL is expected to acquire 18.4 million equity shares for ₹375(~$4.99) per share, accounting for 9.70% of post preferential share capital. The company will announce an open offer to the public shareholders of Sterling & Wilson Solar to acquire up to 49.1 million equity shares, representing 25.9% of share capital.

Distributed generation storage and energy services provider SunPower has acquired residential solar provider Blue Raven Solar. The acquisition was made for a cash consideration of up to $165 million. The acquisition will allow SunPower to serve more customers in underpenetrated areas, including the Northwest and Mid-Atlantic regions.

Australia-based Fortescue Future Industries (FFI) has acquired a 60 % stake in the Dutch-based High yield Energy Technologies (HyET) Group. FFI also provided the majority share of financing for expanding HyET Solar’s Dutch Solar PV factory. HyET Group consists of two companies – HyET Solar and HyET Hydrogen. HyET Solar is a manufacturer of thin-film flexible solar modules called Powerfoil. HyET Hydrogen is in the field of electrochemical hydrogen compression. HyET is headquartered at Arnhem in the Netherlands and is expanding to the USA with a subsidiary, HyET Hydrogen, based in California.

Eos Energy Enterprises, a U.S.-based zinc-powered energy storage systems provider, announced that its wholly-owned subsidiary HI-POWER had signed a $25 million equity financing agreement with Trinity Capital. The funding will be utilized to acquire equipment that will expand the production of its proprietary aqueous Znyth batteries.

Solar battery network startup RedEarth Energy Storage has raised A$12 million (~$8.82 million) in a pre-IPO round led by Ord Minnett Private Opportunities. The company plans to use the funds to accelerate its local manufacturing, sales, marketing efforts, and specific research and development to finalize its electricity monetization technologies ahead of its planned Australian Securities Exchange (ASX) listing in 2022. Other investors include Perennial Value and Thorney Investment Group.

Oorja Development Solutions, a Delhi-based off-grid solar services provider, said it had secured $1 million in seed funding from Schneider Electric Energy Access Asia. The company will utilize the funding for agri-energy infrastructure projects and expand its operations and team in northern India. The funding will also help the company scale its operations in existing and new markets in India over the next 18 months. The company aims to expand its consumer base in rural areas of Bihar and Uttar Pradesh. It is expected to deploy 121 solar projects concentrated in 22 clusters, impacting up to 6,000 low-income houses by December 2022.

Reliance New Energy Solar, the green energy arm of Reliance Industries, will invest €25 million (~$29 million) in a Germany-based solar wafer manufacturer, NexWafe. Reliance New Energy Solar will be the strategic lead investor for NexWafe’s €39 million (~$45 million) Series C financing round. InnoEnergy, Lynwood, Saudi Aramco Energy Ventures, and other incumbent and new investors participated in the funding round. InnoEnergy is expected to convert its current debt of €4 million (~$4.7 million) in NexWafe into equity at the same share prices as the Series C round shares. The fresh funding will help NexWafe accelerate product and technology development, including completing the commercial and development of its solar products on prototype lines in Freiburg.

Clean energy platform WattBuy has announced a $10 million expansion of their Series A raise, led by SE Ventures, a venture capital fund backed by Schneider Electric, along with My Climate Journey (MCJ) Collective, a climate tech fund. WattBuy’s total Series A raise stood at $13.25 million. Existing investors including Evergy Ventures, Updater, Powerhouse Ventures, Techstars Ventures, Avesta Fund, and entrepreneur Yoav Lurie participated in this round. The funds from this round will be utilized to double WattBuy’s workforce. The company also plans to expand its product line, data science, and business development.

Reliance New Energy Solar, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Reliance Industries, has acquired REC Solar Holdings from China National Bluestar Group for $771 million. REC is a Norway-headquartered solar cell, modules, and polysilicon manufacturing company and has an operational headquarter in Singapore. It has regional hubs in North America, Europe, Australia, and Asia-Pacific. The company has three manufacturing facilities – two in Norway for solar-grade polysilicon production and one in Singapore for manufacturing solar cells and modules. The acquisition will help Reliance with a ready global platform and expand globally in key green energy markets, including the US, Australia, Europe, and elsewhere in Asia.

ENEOS Holdings, an oil refiner and distributor, based in Japan, announced that its consolidated subsidiary ENEOS Corporation would acquire a 100% stake in Japan Renewable Energy Corporation (JRE) for ¥200 billion (~$1.76 billion). ENEOS aims to become a leading renewable energy company in Japan by combining JRE’s development capabilities in the renewable energy business with the expertise that ENEOS has accumulated as an energy company.

VinaCapital Group, an investment management company, announced that EDF Renewables had made a significant investment in SkyX Energy, the holding company of SkyX Solar, a rooftop solar power developer, and a VinaCapital subsidiary. With EDF Renewables as a strategic partner, SkyX Solar, which has around 30 MW of solar projects under operation, plans to invest more than $100 million to develop 200 MW of rooftop solar further and distributed energy solar projects for commercial and industrial customers in Vietnam over the next few years.

Plume, the personalized communications services pioneer, announced that it had closed $300 million in a new round of minority equity investment led by SoftBank Vision Fund 2. This round brings the company’s valuation to $2.6 billion, with $697 million raised to date. The investment will continue to drive research and development, sales and marketing, new partnerships, and acquisitions as Plume continues its global expansion and hyper-growth.

Birmingham-based Aceleron, a U.K.-based advanced lithium battery developer, has raised a further £2.5 million (~$3.4 million) as it continues to expand its global sales. The latest funding has come from existing investors BGF, the MEIF Proof of Concept & Early Stage Fund, which is managed by Mercia and part of the Midlands Engine Investment Fund, and Mercia’s EIS funds. It brings the total raised by the company so far to £5.4 million (~$7.3 million). The funding will enable Aceleron to build relationships with automotive manufacturers and other major corporates while continuing to enhance its products.

RatedPower, a SaaS company developing cloud-based solutions to maximize the potential of solar PV projects and reduce the cost of energy (LCOE), announced that it had raised €5.3 million (~$6.1 million) in series A funding. Seaya Ventures led the round with the additional participation of US-based investors. This investment will be used to drive international growth and expansion in key solar markets – especially in the U.S. — and expedite the new product and feature developments, and accelerate its mission to become the SaaS suite of renewables.

For reports and trackers on funding and M&A transactions in solar, energy storage, smart grid, and efficiency sectors, click here.

Read last week’s funding roundup.