SJF Ventures Leads NEXTracker Financing
NEXTracker Raises $25 Million of Growth Capital Financing from SJF Ventures, Tennenbaum Capital Partners, existing investors; Doubles Manufacturing Capacity
Investment Enables NEXTracker to Fulfill Expanding Customer Orders for the Solar Industry’s Most Advanced Solar PV Tracker
FREMONT, CA, FEB. 9, 2015 – NEXTracker, Inc., designer and manufacturer of the world’s most advanced single axis PV trackers, today announced the completion of $25 million in equity and growth capital financing. The funding round, which closed in December, includes investments from SJF Ventures, Tennenbaum Capital Partners and earlier investors Sigma Partners and DBL Investors. NEXTracker, based in Silicon Valley, provides state-of-the-art solar trackers that maximize system energy output while reducing installation and operating costs, resulting in substantially increased solar project profits.
“SJF Ventures is thrilled to partner with NEXTracker,” said managing director and co-founder Dave Kirkpatrick. “NEXTracker is led by successful solar veterans who have developed new tracking systems which are increasing the profitability of utility scale solar power in many countries. This financing will ensure that NEXTracker’s technology helps even more solar project owners surmount design and installation challenges, while driving down the cost of solar deployment.” SJF Ventures led the Series B round, and Mr. Kirkpatrick has joined NEXTracker’s board.
“Coming on the heels of last year’s tremendous increase in customer shipments, NEXTracker is appreciative of the capital from our investors to further scale production,” said NEXTracker CEO Dan Shugar. “We are now able to deliver over 200 MW/month. We have also expanded our team with experienced solar project personal in North and South America, Europe, Asia, and Australia to provide customers the highest level of professional services and support to ensure smooth delivery of their solar power projects.”
“NEXTracker’s technology is facilitating large- and utility-scale project deployments by minimizing site grading and grounding requirements, while simplifying design, assembly, installation, cleaning and maintenance,” noted Todd Jacquez-Fissori, Managing Director, Energy Technology Group Head at Tennenbaum Capital Partners, LLC, a firm with over $5B in invested capital. “We’re proud to be providing financing to NEXTracker, as their innovations in tracker technology have been proven on dozens of projects financed by leading banks with total value in excess of $450M.”
Global demand for solar trackers continues to expand rapidly as the market has transitioned to higher irradiance locations where trackers deliver outstanding increases in power production. NEXTracker’s technology is proven to be a cost-effective solution to maximize solar project returns. Advanced features address and overcome layout constraints, significantly reduce the number of foundations and use of steel, eliminate stress on the drive components by aligning modules with the axis of rotation, and simplify AC wiring requirements.
About NEXTracker, Inc.
NEXTracker (www.NEXTracker.com) offers a significant breakthrough in horizontal tracking, with lower costs, better performance and more flexibility for solar power plants. These benefits increase solar project profits for developers, EPCs and system owners. Leveraging world-class design and installation expertise, NEXTracker has delivered trackers for dozens of projects in sizes exceeding 80MW, across three continents. The company is headquartered in California with regional offices in Asia, Europe and South America.
Contact:
Susan DeVico
(510) 339-1527
SusanDV@aol.com
