This is the largest single investment in this market, signaling software’s critical role in driving the mainstream adoption of solar
SAN FRANCISCO : Aurora Solar, a SaaS company developing tools that enable solar professionals to design and sell solar remotely, announced today that it has raised $50 million in Series B, bringing the company’s total investment to over $70 million. This round was led by ICONIQ Capital, with follow-on participation from existing investors Energize Ventures, Fifth Wall, and Pear VC.
Using Aurora, solar installers can accurately perform remote solar shading analysis, design solar and storage systems, forecast energy production, calculate bill savings, generate sales proposals with financing options, and much more. With stay-at-home mandates across the nation, Aurora Solar’s software has become business-critical for many solar installers.
“Aurora has become the preeminent software platform for solar installers, with product functionality and an end-user experience that is far ahead of the competition,” said Doug Pepper, General Partner at ICONIQ Capital. “We’re looking forward to joining the board and supporting Chris, Sam, and the Aurora team on their exceptional growth trajectory to enable the solar industry to scale for a more sustainable future. Aurora Solar joins ICONIQ’s leading vertical software investments including Procore, ServiceTitan and Relativity.”
This latest round of financing will be used to continue hiring across all teams and to ramp up developing new features and services to help solar installers sell more solar, expand their business with storage, improve the workflow for solar sales consultants, and deliver a modern customer experience.
“This fundraise is not only a big milestone for Aurora, but for the solar industry,” said Christopher Hopper, Co-founder of Aurora Solar. “It will allow us to continue to build best-in-class tools for solar professionals in the U.S. and internationally, and help us achieve our mission of creating a future powered by clean solar energy.”
Industry analysts at BloombergNEF are expecting a 22% year-over-year growth for the U.S. residential solar market next year. Solar companies that have transitioned to online sales and solar design during the lockdown will be well positioned for the anticipated growth.
“After weathering the economic challenges this year, there is a tremendous opportunity for the solar industry to serve as a growth engine to spur the development of a global clean energy economy,” said Tyler Lancaster, principal at Energize Ventures. “The outlook for solar has never been more promising, and we are thrilled to continue to support resilient, catalytic digital solutions like Aurora that play a critical role in powering the build-out of sustainable infrastructure and accelerating the clean energy transition.”
Aurora Solar is helping the industry transition away from manual processes and in-person visits to conducting everything online. Last month, projects designed in Aurora surpassed 4 million, with the last million designed during stay-at-home orders and in record time—6 months.
“Solar has emerged as one of the key future energy sources, and Aurora is increasingly the go-to solution for solar installers who are looking to affordably deploy solar at scale,” said Samuel Adeyemo, Co-founder of Aurora Solar. “The pandemic has accelerated trends towards remote processes, and we are delighted to have the resources to build all the tools that will help the industry thrive in this new environment.”
About ICONIQ Capital
ICONIQ Capital is a privately-held financial advisory and investment firm, and a partner of choice for exceptional entrepreneurs, leaders and institutions around the world. The firm invests in technology growth equity and real estate asset classes and employs a distinctive ecosystem to build enduring businesses. ICONIQ Capital is a trusted advisor fostering meaningful strategic relationships across industries to source powerful ideas, magnify global impact and support a new generation of entrepreneurs and companies. For a full list of investments made by ICONIQ Growth, an affiliate of ICONIQ Capital, please visit: iconiqgrowth.com
About Energize Ventures
Energize Ventures is a pre-growth venture capital firm located in Chicago. Energize partners with entrepreneurs to advance the next generation of energy and industry by investing in software and business model innovations. Since it was founded in 2016, Energize has made 14 investments spanning cybersecurity, mobility, data analytics, operational efficiency and distributed assets.
About Aurora Solar Inc.
Aurora Solar is a fast growing technology company that builds software solutions for distributed solar and storage. To date, over 4 million solar projects have been designed in Aurora globally. To date, over 4 million solar projects have been designed in Aurora globally.
