Sunstone Credit, Inc., a technology-enabled solar loan finance platform for businesses, announced the company's initial fundraise, including investments from Forbright Bank, Cross River Digital Ventures, Grotech Ventures, Early Light Ventures and the University System of Maryland Momentum Fund. In addition to their investments, Forbright Bank and Cross River will also serve as strategic partners to Sunstone, and provide the financing to back its loan portfolio.
Sunstone is on a mission to enable more small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) access to solar energy through its technology-driven platform offering affordable and easy-to-understand solar loan products. This round of investment will allow Sunstone to scale its team, invest in its best-in-class technology platform and continue to grow its national network of solar developer partners.
Sunstone was founded with the mission of helping more businesses go solar. We are excited to have found such an incredible group of likeminded investors to join us. Together we are committed to building a platform that will drive commercial sales growth for our solar developer partners and enable cost savings for borrowers, while contributing to a cleaner future for the planet. Additionally, we are thrilled that Forbright Bank and Cross River have elected to further their relationship with Sunstone, by not only investing, but also providing the funds to back our loans as strategic partners."
Josh Goldberg, Co-Founder of Sunstone
Sunstone is the creation of Goldberg and Wilson Chang, who together have decades of solar industry experience. They are joined by a co-founding team with backgrounds across climate, financial services and technology.
"We have a very high regard for Josh and his terrific team and look forward to a strong and growing partnership with Sunstone," said John Delaney, Founder of Forbright Bank. "Forbright is mission aligned around decarbonization and sustainability and helping build Sunstone into a leading solar lender for the small business marketplace aligns with that mission. We look forward to working with Josh as he builds a great business that will help decarbonize the world by 2050."
Sunstone's loan products are affordable, easy to understand and backed by the significant lending capabilities of banks such as Forbright Bank and Cross River that have partnered with the company.
"We have worked with Josh, Wilson and the team for years as they successfully revolutionized residential solar finance," said Hillel Olivestone, Head of Corporate Development at Cross River. "The Cross River Digital Ventures team is excited to back Sunstone as they bring the same entrepreneurial spirit and technology-first approach to financial services for the SMB commercial solar market."
Designed to be simple and easy to use, Sunstone's best-in-class technology platform enables solar developer partners to offer straightforward loan financing options to their SMB customers through a streamlined online application.
"From an investment perspective, Sunstone is an attractive combination of strong solar industry tailwinds, highly favorable market dynamics in the commercial solar lending space and great founder-market fit," said Lawson DeVries, Managing General Partner of Grotech Ventures. "Josh and team have the bold entrepreneurial vision needed to scale the business and are already starting on second base given their previous experiences building companies in the solar industry."
With energy costs rising and climate change discourse growing increasingly prevalent, more SMBs than ever are seeking to reduce their electric bill and carbon footprint by going solar and Sunstone has developed the right loan products to meet this moment.
"Sunstone taps into two of the most compelling themes today: fintech and the clean energy transition," said Mike Leffer, Principal at Early Light Ventures. "At the same time, they are offering a product that both is unique within the current commercial solar finance market and has high demonstrated demand. With the team's experience spanning solar, finance and technology, we are confident in Sunstone's ability to make solar more accessible for businesses through their platform."
"Creating a connective tissue between financial institutions, solar installers, and SMB borrowers is a very clever way to bring much more solar to the U.S. via SMBs. Financial institutions want to grow their loans, SMB borrowers need a simple way to finance solar, and solar installers lack easy to use financial tools to scale their businesses," said Maryland Momentum Fund Managing Director, Claire Broido Johnson.
About Sunstone Credit
Sunstone Credit is on a mission to democratize access to solar for small and medium sized businesses (SMBs). Sitting at the intersection of climate, finance and technology, Sunstone has built a best-in-class technology platform and partnered with leading financial institutions and a national network of solar developers to provide SMB borrowers access to simple, affordable and easy-to-understand solar loan products with flexible terms and a streamlined application process. When SMB customers go solar using Sunstone's products, they save money and reduce their carbon footprint, driving a clean, green future for all.