Mosaic Inc.

Mosaic is a solar fin-tech company based in Oakland, California. Founded in 2010, Mosaic created their initial business model using crowdfunding principals to offer loans for commercial solar development projects. For that reason, GigaOM referred to the company as "the Kickstarter for Solar".[1] After shifting their model in 2014, Mosaic Inc. is now focused on financing residential solar projects by leveraging third party capital partners.[2] Through this model, the company aims to democratize the social and environmental benefits of clean energy. Mosaic is a certified benefit corporation.[3]

Mosaic Inc.
IndustrySolar Energy
Founded2010
Headquarters1212 Broadway, Suite 300 Oakland, California, 94612 U.S.
Key people
Billy Parish — CEO
Daniel Rosen — President
Steve Controulis — CFO
Websitejoinmosaic.com

Early projects

Billy Parish, Dan Rosen, Arthur Coulston, and Steve Richmond originally started Mosaic to facilitate crowdfunding of loans for solar development projects. In initial tests, Mosaic facilitated about $1.1 million in private investments from 400 people to finance 12 rooftop solar plants in California, New Jersey and Arizona.[4]

In Spring 2012, Mosaic financed five solar power plants through their zero-interest investment model. 400 people invested over $350,000 in these projects which created 73 kW of solar energy for local community organizations—saving the organizations more than $600,000 on their utility bills while producing over 2,700 job hours for local workers.[5]

In September 2012, Mosaic financed its first solar power plant that also offered a return on investment for investors. 51 people raised over $40,000 to finance this 47 kW project for the Youth Employment Partnership in Oakland, California. With a 6.38% annual return over a 5 year loan period, a $200 investment would yield $272 by the end of the 5 years.[6]

Public launch

On January 7, 2013, Mosaic launched an online platform to let individuals invest as little as US$25 in specific solar projects while earning a 4.5% annual return on their money.[7] Mosaic provided capital to developers at a 5.5% interest rate, took a 1% fee, and investors could expect a full return of their investment in nine years.[4] Mosaic sold out its first public projects in less than 24 hours, with over 400 investors putting in $300,000+ and an average investment of $700.[8]

On April 8, 2013, Mosaic announced that it had received approval to sell $100 million worth of solar investments to the California public. As part of the announcement, Mosaic released another project on the Ronald McDonald House in San Diego.[9]

On March 6, 2014, Mosaic announced that it would begin offering crowdfunded loans to homeowners who would like to install solar. [10]

Current

Mosaic has been financing residential loans for solar systems by leveraging third party capital providers since 2014. Since this shift, Mosaic has continued to grow in the solar financing space, in large part because of this additional raised capital.

Mosaic's first major round of capital came in October of 2014 with reinsurer PartnerRe, funding $100 million of Mosaic home solar loans. These funds were directed at expanding its lending system.[11]

Over the course of 2016, Mosaic raised $200 million between Germany's DZ Bank and New York Green Bank[12] and a separate $220 million equity financing in Series C funding through private equity firm Warburg Pincus.[13]

Funding


2012
  • Mosaic raised $3.4 million in Series A funding in 2012 to grow their solar investment marketplace.[14]
  • Mosaic was awarded an additional $2 million grant from the US Department of Energy as part of the SunShot Initiative.[15]

2013
  • Mosaic raises $15 million in Series B funding from Ben Tarbell, Blue Haven Initiative, Bronze Initiative, Serious Change, and the California Endowment.[16]

2014
  • Mosaic raised $100 million through reinsurer PartnerRe[17]

2016
  • Mosaic raised $200 million in warehouse financing through Germany's DZ Bank and the New York Green Bank [18]
  • Mosaic raised $220 million in equity financing through private equity firm Warburg Pincus[19]


See also

References
  1. Katie Fehrenbacher (May 4, 2012). "The Kickstarter for solar could make you money starting this Summer". GigaOM.
  2. Hales, Roy. "Mosaic Home Solar Loan Launched By Mosaic & RGS Energy". CleanTechnica. Retrieved 16 March 2017.
  3. "B Impact Report". B Corporation.
  4. Herndon, Andrew (January 7, 2013). "Solar Mosaic's Crowdfunding Beats Treasuries With 4.5% Return". Bloomberg.
  5. "Solar Crowdfunding Website Raises $2.5 Million". Sustainable Business. June 1, 2012.
  6. Makower, Joel (December 10, 2012). "How Mosaic brings cleantech investing to the masses". GreenBiz.
  7. Woody, Todd (2013-01-07). "Startup Launches Online Platform To Let Individuals Invest In Solar Projects". Forbes.
  8. Lisa Hymas (January 8, 2013). "Solar crowdfunding project Mosaic sells out in under 24 hours". Grist.
  9. Anthony Ha (April 8, 2013). "Mosaic Prepares To Launch Another $100M Of Projects On Its Solar Crowdfunding Platform". TechCrunch.
  10. David Baker (March 6, 2014). "Mosaic crowdsources solar installation for homeowners". SF Chronicle.
  11. Goossens, Ehren. "PartnerRe to Fund $100 Million of Mosaic Home Solar Loans". Bloomberg. Bloomberg.com. Retrieved 10 March 2017.
  12. Groom, Nichola. "Mosaic raises $200 million for U.S. home solar loans". Reuters. Reuters. Retrieved 13 March 2017.
  13. Chernova, Yuliya. "Warburg Pincus Leads $220 Million Round for Solar Lender Mosaic". Wall Street Journal. Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 13 March 2017.
  14. "Solar Mosaic Brings Series A to $3.4M for Crowdfunding Solar Energy". Dow Jones & Company. October 2, 2012.
  15. Colleen Taylor (June 13, 2012). "Solar Mosaic Gets $2 Million DOE Grant To Build Out Crowdfunding Site For Solar Projects". TechCrunch.
  16. "Mosaic". CrunchBase. CrunchBase.
  17. Goossens, Ehren. "PartnerRe to Fund $100 Million of Mosaic Home Solar Loans". Bloomberg. Bloomberg.com. Retrieved 10 March 2017.
  18. Groom, Nichola. "Mosaic raises $200 million for U.S. home solar loans". Reuters. Reuters. Retrieved 13 March 2017.
  19. Chernova, Yuliya. "Warburg Pincus Leads $220 Million Round for Solar Lender Mosaic". Wall Street Journal. Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 13 March 2017.
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