Ojjo, a developer and manufacturer of next-generation solar foundations, secured $40 million in a Series C funding round led by NGP ETP, the energy transition investing platform of NGP, with Ajax Strategies.
As part of the investment, James Wallis, Partner at NGP, has joined Ojjo’s Board of Directors. The new funding will accelerate Ojjo’s growth and execution of its 9 GW active project pipeline.
The company has previously raised $27 million across two prior funding rounds with funding provided by Cthulhu Ventures and other investors.
Ojjo develops and manufactures next-generation solar foundations. Its patented approach combines hardware, the Earth Truss, with a drilling machine, the Truss Driver. The Earth Truss System offers an efficient means of securing ground mount solar systems—typically requiring less steel volume and labor as compared to customary pile foundations. The company holds over 250 domestic and international patents related to its system. It has been contracted or constructed in around 1.6 GW of solar projects, including on the nation’s largest standalone solar and storage project, Gemini Solar.
“We’ve been early supporters of Ojjo’s team and technology, and our follow-on investment was a natural fit for our shared vision of delivering revolutionary solutions to climate change,” said Matt Rogers, Ajax Operating Partner. “The timing couldn’t be better for solar innovations such as Ojjo with the passing of the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), which enables consistent growth over the next decade for domestic renewable energy production. Ojjo has all the necessary capabilities to help the industry scale to take full advantage of this unique and timely opportunity.”
“Ojjo’s Earth Truss systems have been proven in the field on hundreds of megawatts of projects, in a variety of soil conditions. It’s clear the industry is hungry for technologies that can deliver project-level cost savings relative to today’s commodity offerings,” said Helena Kimball, President of Ojjo. “We have worked hard to establish the supply chain sophistication, drilling machine fleet uptime, and the field support to ensure our EPC customers have rewarding experiences installing Ojjo foundations. We are grateful to our investors for recognizing Ojjo’s advantage and providing us the financial stability to scale well into the future.”
Recently, Project Solar, a solar e-commerce firm, raised $23 million in Series A financing to help scale its business in additional markets. The funding round was led by Left Lane Capital, with additional support from strategics within the industry.
According to Mercom’s 1H and Q2 2022 report, in 1H 2022, venture capital (VC) funding activity rose 125% with $3.7 billion in 53 deals compared to the $1.6 billion raised in 26 deals in the first half of 2021.
