December 18, 2009

San Mateo, CA, USA: Tioga Energy Completes $20M Series B Funding Round

Tioga Energy has completed $20 million of an initial closing of its Series B financing round. Investors in this financing included MEMC Electronic Materials, NGEN Partners, Nth Power and Draper Fisher Jurvetson. The investment will support Tioga’s growth and short-term financing needs for construction and development of solar projects.

“This financing round will provide the operating capital to rapidly grow our business and accelerate the development of our growing project pipeline,” said Paul Detering, CEO of Tioga Energy. “We are also pleased to have MEMC as both an investor and a partner in achieving our mutual business goals. As an established leader in the solar wafer industry, MEMC’s support will have a very positive impact on achieving our growth objectives.”

Tioga provides project financing through its SurePathSM Solar Power Purchase Agreements (PPAs), and maintains and operates solar systems on behalf of its customers. Tioga’s solution delivers predictably priced power and enables organizations to not only green their operations but also manage their energy budget. By avoiding the upfront capital expenditure and simply buying the electricity generated by the solar system, Tioga’s customers benefit from solar power without diverting resources away from their core business.

“This investment supports our strategy to drive revenue growth in our solar wafer business,” said Ahmad Chatila, chief executive officer of MEMC. “Tioga is a leading provider of solar ‘power purchase agreements’ in North America, with a solid management team and strong growth expectations. Tioga and MEMC have common business values, as well as a common goal of accelerating the use of solar energy by achieving grid-competitive pricing. With their established presence in the US market, they will make a strong partner for MEMC and our solar cell and module customers. We look forward to supporting Tioga in delivering efficient and affordable solar power.”

“As one of the original investors, we are pleased to participate in this round and continue working with Tioga towards our mutual goal of accelerating the adoption of clean technology and renewable energy,” Steve Parry, a partner with NGEN Partners.

“Demand for Tioga’s services will continue to increase as organizations look to minimize the risk associated with the up-front capital investment and operational concerns of installing a solar system and we look forward to our continued partnership with Tioga to help these organizations make the switch to solar,” said Tim Woodward, a Managing Director at Nth Power.

“The PPA model has had significant impact on shaping the commercial solar market and Tioga is well positioned to take advantage of the growing demand for renewable energy services,” said Raj Atluru, Managing Director at Draper Fisher Jurvetson.

Further details about: Tioga Energy