October 4, 2006 - White River Junction, VT
Today groSolar, which integrates solar energy into new and existing homes, announced that it has closed its first round of venture funding with a total of $2.25 million. The investment will be used to fund groSolar's national marketing initiative and its expansion to new locations. Led by SJF Ventures, the financing round included three venture funds that specialize in the cleantech and renewable energy sectors, SJF Ventures, Calvert Social Investment Fund, and Allco Financial Group.
"We are delighted to have each of these venture funds join us as
partners to help groSolar become the first choice for builders and
homeowners who are installing efficient solar energy systems in new and
existing homes and businesses,'' said Jeffery Wolfe, groSolar CEO. "We
are aggressively bringing groSolar solutions to the market, both
through a preferred dealer network and through groSolar branch offices
in under-served markets. Our new name, "groSolar,", symbolizes the
mission of our company, to grow the utilization of solar energy in new
and innovative ways."'
groSolar provides clean, efficient solutions for homes and businesses,
including solar electricity, solar hot water, and solar air heating.
The company has the engineering capability to deliver complete systems,
turn-key solutions and zero energy home designs.
According to Cleantech Venture Network LLC, more than $1.4 billion in
venture capital has been invested in North American cleantech companies
during the first six months of 2006. The clean energy segment was
particularly strong, pulling in 70% of all cleantech VC funding for the
2nd quarter. A large portion of this was invested in early stage solar
technology firms.
"We believe there is a significant investment opportunity in the
deployment of both proven and emerging solar technologies," said SJF
Ventures Managing Director David Kirkpatrick. "The groSolar executive
and product development team has the vision, expertise and technology
partnerships to execute on this opportunity."
groSolar is a subsidiary of GRO, a national solar integration firm
focused on designing, distributing and installing high quality energy
systems.
About GRO
GRO is a national solar integration firm focused on designing,
distributing and installing high quality energy systems. GRO
distributes solar electric, hot water and hot air systems throughout
the U.S. from offices in VT, NJ, NY, MA and CO. The company recently
changed its name from Global Resource Options to GRO. The company has
more than $10MM in revenues, recently signed a four year, $88 million
supply agreement for solar photovoltaic (PV) panels with Evergreen
Solar. GRO integrates components from leading solar manufacturers
including Evergreen, Suntech, Heliodyne, Outback, SMA, Magnetek,
Gridpoint and UniRac into elegant solar energy systems for its
customers that generate clean, reliable energy for decades. For
information, contact Kevin Ellis 1-800-498-5390 or Sue Lewis at
1-800-374-4494. www.groSolar.com. To help fuel its growth, GRO is
actively recruiting a COO. Interested parties may contact Clark
Waterfall of the Boston Search Group at 617-266-4333.
About SJF Ventures
SJF Ventures, with offices in Durham, NC and New York, NY, is a venture
capital fund with $40 million under management that helps accelerate
the growth of companies whose competitive advantages include cleantech
and workforce innovations. SJF focuses on companies seeking equity
capital of $500,000 to $5 million particularly in the renewable energy
and efficiency, green building, organic and premium products, business
services, and water and infrastructure sectors. www.sjfund.com ,
(919)530-1177.
About Calvert
Calvert Group manages the first and largest family of socially screened
mutual funds, designed to help investors achieve financial security
while helping to build a sustainable world and protect our quality of
life. Calvert has been in the mutual fund business for 30 years and
manages more than $12 billion in assets. www.calvert.com, (301)
951-4800
About Allco Financial Group
Allco Finance Group is a New York-based investment banking and project
development firm. Allco is actively investing in and developing
renewable energy companies and projects across the United States. Since
Allco's incorporation in the U.S. in 1995, we have arranged financing
for and/or made investments in more than $25 billion of equipment,
infrastructure and other projects and assets in sectors including
transportation (aviation, rail and shipping), high technology,
energy/renewable energy and film. www.allcous.com (212) 681-6974