Source: Green Technology
San Francisco-based startup Leap has raised $8.2 million in equity and debt, aimed at expanding its business of linking megawatts of flexible behind-the-meter load to grid market opportunities in California. Thursday’s equity investment was led by Union Square Partners, the first energy investment for the Boston-based venture firm, and joined by existing investors including Congruent Ventures, Sunpower co-founder Tom Dinwoodie, former Sunpower CEO Howard Wenger, and Grid Singularity founder and CEO Ewald Hesse. The new round brings Leap’s total capital raised to about $11 million. An undisclosed portion of the $8.2 million round comes in the form of debt from Silicon Valley Bank, and is aimed primarily at providing the collateral required to participate in the grid services contracts that Leap has signed with its partners, CEO Thomas Folker said in an interview. “That’s something that is not fun to do with equity,” but as a startup with no track record, it was necessary in Leap’s early days, he said.
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