Clean energy startup Arcadia raises $100 million
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Arcadia, a startup that provides people avenues to access renewable energy without having to change power companies, has raised $100 million to fuel its expansion.
Driving the news: New investors Tiger Global Management and the Drawdown Fund led the Series D round for the company founded in 2013 that has now raised $180 million overall.
- Other new backers include Wellington Management and Reimagined Ventures, and existing investors in the latest round include Energy Impact Partners and G2 Venture Partners.
How it works: A key part of Arcadia's businesses is providing solar to people who can't install panels because they live in multi-unit buildings or aren't homeowners.
- Arcadia connects residential customers with nearby "community" solar projects, a growing form of solar in which, as the Solar Energy Industries Association notes, multiple customers subscribe to power from a project and receive credits on their bills.
- The money is also slated to help its expansion to provide commercial businesses with community solar access.
- Arcadia is taping other business lines too. It recently bought Nanogrid, a software company with services like helping ensure electric vehicles are charged when the grid mix is cleanest.
- “We are getting into more and more energy products, energy choices in the home,” founder and CEO Kiran Bhatraju tells Axios.
What they're saying: Bhatraju said in an interview that the $100 million round is a "validation of the growth of the market, that it one day could be bigger than rooftop solar.”
- The company bills itself as a way to democratize energy access while lowering power bills and help consumers navigate a confusing energy market.
- Arcadia manages 500 megawatts worth of community solar, and Bhatraju said they've had 500% revenue growth since 2019.
