Company draws support from new and existing investors to expand reach from coast to coast.
OneEnergy Renewables, a leading developer of distributed, utility-scale solar photovoltaic (PV) projects, today announced it has closed a $5M Series B financing round. New investor Ecosystem Integrity Fund (EIF) led the round, with additional support from existing investors, including members of the Seattle-based cleantech angel group, Element 8.
OneEnergy develops a growing pipeline of high-quality, middle-market (2 to 50 MW) PV projects. Through its proprietary siting process, pre-construction development expertise and innovative power sales model, the company removes significant development risk for the financiers that build, own and operate mid-market projects. OneEnergy’s Series B funding will support the company’s continued growth in established and emerging markets across the country.
OneEnergy’s novel power sales product, Purpose-Built Solar™, connects corporate and institutional customers to OneEnergy’s off-site solar projects. Purpose-Built projects are tailored to meet the unique energy requirements and financial needs of each customer, allowing them to lock in electricity prices for up to 25 years.
“We’re seeing strong demand from institutional customers that want to access the fixed-price benefits of solar power, at scale. These off-site projects deliver substantial energy cost savings, significantly improve the risk profile of operating budgets, and accelerate the transition to clean energy,” said Bryce Smith, CEO and co-founder of OneEnergy Renewables. “With this capital injection from our partners, we can expand the reach of our Purpose-Built Solar product to meet growing customer demand.”
OneEnergy Renewables also welcomed to its Board of Directors Devin Whatley, an EIF partner. Whatley brings to the OneEnergy advisory team deep experience in managing sustainability-minded startups.
“Market conditions in recent years have thrust utility-scale solar into the spotlight, but the missing element was an innovative mechanism to connect end users of electricity to large, economical, off-site projects,” said Whatley. “OneEnergy Renewables is uniquely positioned to address this emerging customer demand. This market opportunity, when coupled with the team’s site selection and development expertise, convinced us that OneEnergy has a formula for success in the large-scale solar market. EIF looks forward to lending its expertise to assist the company in its quest to bring affordable solar power to customers in a new way.”
About OneEnergy Renewables:
OneEnergy Renewables develops distributed, utility-scale solar PV projects and creates next generation power purchase agreement (PPA) products that expand the marketplace for clean energy. OneEnergy’s Purpose-Built Solar™ enables commercial and institutional customers to procure power from large-scale offsite solar projects and to integrate these purchases into their broader electricity procurement strategy. For more information, please visit www.OneEnergyRenewables.com.
About the Ecosystem Integrity Fund:
The Ecosystem Integrity Fund (EIF) is a sustainability-focused venture capital firm. The firm takes a systems approach to sustainability problems, and targets capital-efficient opportunities in niches which have not received sufficient investor attention. For more information, please visit:www.ecosystemintegrity.com.
About Element 8:
Founded in 2006 as Northwest Energy Angels and renamed Element 8 in 2014, the organization was the first angel investment group in North America to focus exclusively on cleantech. Element 8 partners with outstanding entrepreneurs to build successful companies, and leverages its members’ collective expertise to accelerate the transition to a cleaner future and better world. More information is available at:www.element8angels.com.