Posted In:

Wunder, Lending, Insurance, US


Wunder raises $112m

Published:

Apr 18, 2018


Source:

Posted In:

Wunder, Lending, Insurance, US

Published:

Apr 18, 2018


Source:


Share:

As renewable energy continues to gobble up more and more of the new energy capacity coming online, the solar project lending company Wunder Capital has raised $112 million in primarily debt financing to boost its business.

The 90 percent debt and 10 percent equity commitment came from the multi-strategy investment firm Cyrus Investments, which has backed renewable energy projects for years through its investment in RePower Group.

“The debt component is going to blow out the lending opportunity,” says Wunder chief executive Bryan Birsic.

Wunder chose to consolidate the debt and equity round with a single lead investor to simplify the negotiation process on both sides of the table, Birsic said. “Since Cyrus is an equity holder in the company we can come to better terms,” on debt facilities and repayment, he said.

Wunder lends money to commercial solar energy development projects throughout the U.S. and its business has been buoyed by a flood of demand for new solar energy projects coming online.

Since its launch in 2016, the company has financed more than 180 projects throughout the U.S., which are generating somewhere in the range of 50 megawatts (or enough electricity to power roughly 32,500 homes).

The Boulder, Colo.-based company makes money in three ways: It charges closing fees, a servicing fee and annual interest rate on the debt it provides — typically Wunder will pull in between 4 percent and 5 percent off of each loan it provides to a project.

And business… for renewable energy… is booming.

For instance, the industry appears to have shaken off concerns over price increases stemming from the tariffs imposed on solar panels as part of broad punitive measures President Trump has taken against China (which supplies most of the world’s solar panels).

“It was really pleasant to see that folks were less reactionary and more responsive to the data,” says Birsic. The headlines, Birsic explains, were worse than the reality for the industry. The headlines in January predicted a 30 percent tariff on solar panels, but banks thought those increases would ultimately result in a 3 percent price increase for residential solar installations and a 4 percent price increase for commercial solar.

Those price increases would only bring costs in line with what they were at the end of 2017, since over the course of the year prices on installations declined 10 percent, Birsic says.

“We’re very cool with the economics as it existed in 2017,” he said.

The debt component is going to blow out the lending opportunity.

Bryan Birsic, Wunder Chief Executive


Share:

The views expressed here are those of the individual FinTech Collective LLC (together with its affiliates “FTC”) personnel quoted and are not the views of FTC or its affiliates. Certain information contained in here has been obtained from third-party sources, including from portfolio companies of funds managed by FTC. While taken from sources believed to be reliable, FTC has not independently verified such information and makes no representations about the enduring accuracy of the information or its appropriateness for a given situation. In addition, this content may include third-party advertisements; FTC has not reviewed such advertisements and does not endorse any advertising content contained therein.

Any designations found herein have been made by a third party, and although FTC has no reason to believe that such designations, or the criteria for being considered for such designations, are inaccurate or misleading, FTC does not guarantee its accuracy, and such designations may be incomplete or condensed. No compensation was paid in exchange for any designations, endorsements, or testimonials found herein. The hyperlinks referred to herein are provided for your reference only.

This content is provided for informational purposes only, and should not be relied upon as legal, business, investment, or tax advice. You should consult your own advisers as to those matters. References to any securities or digital assets are for illustrative purposes only, and do not constitute an investment recommendation or offer to provide investment advisory services. This content does not constitute an offering or form part of any offering or any solicitation of any offer to subscribe to or purchase any investment by FTC, nor shall it or the fact of its distribution form the basis of, or be relied upon in connection with any contract therefore. Any such offer will be made only by means of definitive investment offering documents. The information included herein is subject to change without notice to any recipient. Any investments or portfolio companies mentioned, referred to, or described are not representative of all investments in vehicles managed by FTC, and there can be no assurance that the investments will be profitable or that other investments made in the future will have similar characteristics or results. A list of investments made by funds managed by FTC (excluding investments for which the issuer has not provided permission for FTC to disclose publicly as well as unannounced investments in publicly traded digital assets) is available at https://www.fintech.io/portfolio and graphs provided within are for informational purposes solely and should not be relied upon when making any investment decision. Past performance is not indicative of future results. The content speaks only as of the date indicated. Any projections, estimates, forecasts, targets, prospects, and/or opinions expressed in these materials are subject to change without notice and may differ or be contrary to opinions expressed by others. Please see https://www.fintech.io/disclosures for additional important information.