US-based solar rooftop installer Sungevity has raised $70m in an equity round featuring Germany-based utility E.ON and GE Ventures, the corporate venturing unit of industrial conglomerate GE.
Venture capital fund Jetstream Ventures led the round and, like E.ON, participated as a new investor. GE Ventures initially invested $15m in Sungevity in July 2013.
Sungevity has now raised approximately $160m in equity funding from investors also including home improvement retailer Lowe’s, Brightpath Capital Partners, Craton Equity Partners, Vision Ridge Partners and Eastern Sun Capital Partners.
“With E.ON and GE Ventures as equity investors, the Sungevity coalition now includes the world’s largest investor-owned utility company, the company that built much of the planet’s power infrastructure and one of the world’s largest retailers,” said Sungevity CEO Andrew Birch. “That lineup combined with our customer-centric technology platform and the capitalisation from this investment round, positions Sungevity to be the leading global solar brand.”
Sungevity’s sales doubled in 2013 as the US solar sector boomed, and its foreign subsidiaries, based in Australia and the Netherlands, are also doing well. It plans to use the funding to expand into new territories across the world, particularly those in which solar power has reached grid parity, and E.ON’s international presence, especially in Europe, will help to aid the growth.
“E.ON is in the business of servicing energy customers across several countries, and as new, more customer-centric solutions around residential solar arise, we want to provide our customers with the best solutions available,” said Susana Quintana-Plaza, E.ON’s vice president of technology and innovation, and strategic co-investment. “Our capital investment in Sungevity’s technology and customer-centric platform is a significant part of this.”