Aurora Solar $50M Series B
Aurora Solar co-founders, Chris Hopper and Sam Adeyemo are ALWAYS heads down. They would be the first to tell you that new financings are mostly a nuisance and the fundraising process gets in the way of growing the business. The cofounders are laser-focused and Aurora Solar has a simple statement:
“We are building the operating system for the solar industry”
Aurora is executing masterfully and is now the standard software platform for one of the fastest growing industry’s in North America. As a result of their growth, Aurora is looking to accelerate product development and market expansion through a Series B capital raise led by Doug Pepper at ICONIQ.
Energize led the Aurora Solar Series A in Q1 2019. We were introduced to Aurora by one of our family office LPs… (man now THAT introduction was major value-add). As Tyler writes in our blog post, we had a “prepared mind” on the space as we had seen most of the solar-related and distributed energy software companies. This enabled us (ahem, Tyler) to work heads down over Thanksgiving 2018 and come in the following week with even greater conviction. We have been thankful to be part of the ride with Aurora to-date and are excited for what the next chapter brings for the company.
Here is Energize’s statement on Aurora’s Series B that was announced this morning:
Today, Energize Ventures is thrilled to announce its participation in Aurora Solar’s $50M Series B led by ICONIQ Capital. This funding brings Aurora’s total capital raised to more than $70M. Existing investors Fifth Wall and Pear VC are also participating in the round. Along with this funding, Tyler Lancaster (Principal, Energize Ventures) and Doug Pepper (General Partner, ICONIQ Capital) join Aurora co-founders Christopher Hopper and Samuel Adeyemo alongside existing board member Shvet Jain on Aurora’s board.
Here are the key quotes from the Press Release:
“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. 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.”
Tyler Lancaster, Principal at Energize Ventures
“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. 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.”
Samuel Adeyemo, Co-founder of Aurora Solar
“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. 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.”
Doug Pepper, General Partner at ICONIQ Capital.
“This fundraise is not only a big milestone for Aurora, but for the solar industry. 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.”
Christopher Hopper, Co-founder and CEO of Aurora Solar.
