Sunstone Credit Acquires ORKA Finance to Make Solar More Accessible to Businesses of All Sizes
With this acquisition, Sunstone Credit corners the market on commercial solar loan financing for small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs)
NEW YORK, Jan. 11, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Sunstone Credit, Inc., a clean energy financing platform that helps businesses go solar, today announced that it has acquired ORKA Finance, a technology-enabled commercial solar lender.
Due to financial incentives, customer preferences for sustainability, and the need for resilient power access, businesses of all sizes are increasingly adopting solar energy – and experts expect that popularity to grow. However, despite the many advantages of solar for businesses, most companies have lacked access to loan financing for solar installations in the past, forcing them to pay cash, use a more cumbersome financing solution, or forgo the benefits of solar altogether.
As the largest commercial solar fintech platform, Sunstone is on a mission to close this gap and help more businesses go solar by providing simple and cost-effective loan financing. Available at the point of sale through a national network of solar installer partners, Sunstone’s solar finance offering allows businesses of all sizes to reap the substantial benefits of going solar and owning their own solar system.
Through the acquisition of ORKA, Sunstone expects to be able to serve more contractors and businesses with its proprietary technology platform that makes financing commercial solar projects easier and more cost-effective for businesses and nonprofits.
“ORKA has built an impressive program evaluating businesses for solar loans efficiently, helping those businesses access the many benefits of solar more quickly,” said Josh Goldberg, CEO and co-founder of Sunstone. “This acquisition gets us one step closer to helping more businesses across the country do the same.”
As part of the acquisition, key members of the ORKA team, including founder and CEO Ted Fawcett, will join Sunstone as advisors.
“We’re proud of ORKA’s deep contractor relationships and the commercial customers that we helped to go solar,” said Fawcett. “As part of Sunstone, we will be even better positioned to fulfill our shared mission: making solar accessible to more businesses.”
This news comes on the heels of another acquisition for Sunstone. In December 2023, the company was part of a consortium of investors that bought Sunlight Financial, a residential solar financing company.
To learn more about Sunstone, visit sunstonecredit.com.
About Sunstone Credit
Sunstone Credit is on a mission to democratize access to solar for businesses of all sizes. 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 business borrowers access to simple, affordable and easy-to-understand solar loan products with flexible terms and a streamlined application process. When commercial customers go solar using Sunstone’s products, they save money and reduce their carbon footprint, driving a clean, green future for all. Learn more at sunstonecredit.com.
About ORKA Finance
ORKA was founded in 2020 by Ted Fawcett, Dan Rosen of Ezra Climate, and Connie Chern to bring a better commercial solar financing experience to businesses and nonprofits that had previously been poorly served through traditional banking options. In partnership with its lead investor NGP and funding provider Urban Us Capital, ORKA built a strong contractor network that covers more than 30 states, and a technology platform that enables fast and easy lending for contractors and small businesses to finance their commercial solar projects.
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