Ygrene Energy Fund Raises $30 Million in Operating Capital to Advance PACE in Six States

SANTA ROSA, Calif., March 10, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Ygrene Energy Fund, a leading multi-state provider of residential and commercial property assessed clean energy (PACE) financing, today announced it has raised $30 million in operating capital led by new and existing investors, bringing its total operating and project capital raised to over $530 million. The operating capital will fund Ygrene's continued national expansion of its YgreneWorks^TM program, including business and call center operations that service the company's high growth in project volume, a new solar operations arm, and entrance into new states including Georgia, Arkansas, Missouri, Virginia and others. Ygrene is the largest commercial PACE provider in California and Florida and has funded more than 90 percent of the PACE projects in the Sunshine State.

Ygrene continues to drive innovation in PACE through a commitment to world-class service delivery and innovative financial products that provide equitable access to property owners across the U.S. Since its inception, YgreneWorks has approved more than $1 billion in applications for over 21,000 buildings and has completed $300 million in contracts nationally, producing more than $750M in economic stimulus, 4,500 jobs and 19MW of energy. Together these projects have saved 1.3 billion gallons of water and enough energy to power 300,000 homes for a full year, while also keeping 360K metric tons of CO₂ from entering the atmosphere.

"The need for affordable, accessible financing options for clean energy property improvements is increasing across the country and we believe Ygrene stands alone as the true financial innovator in the PACE sector," said Mack McNair, a Founding Partner at Virgo Investment Group. "Ygrene's capital-efficient model has enabled it to become one of the fastest growing PACE administrators in the market, servicing rapidly growing project demand with the most efficient operations and world-class service quality."

Now available in more than 200 communities across the U.S., YgreneWorks provides financing for energy efficiency, water conservation, renewable energy and hurricane protection retrofits for homes and businesses. PACE financing programs such as YgreneWorks are authorized by local governments in an effort to stimulate local economies, generate jobs, address climate change and provide communities wider access to low-cost, money-saving home improvement funds.

"This is a time of explosive growth for PACE, as property owners, investors, cities and states signal the need for sophisticated clean energy finance vehicles that meet their unique requirements," said Stacey Lawson, President and CEO of Ygrene. "We are expanding rapidly to serve the growing market demand while remaining steadfastly committed to providing world-class service to our customers and positive returns for our stakeholders."

About Ygrene Energy Fund

Ygrene Energy Fund is a leading residential and commercial provider of clean energy financing throughout the United States. The award winning, privately funded YgreneWorks™ program provides immediately accessible financing with no upfront costs for energy efficiency, renewable energy, water conservation and, in certain areas, hurricane protection, electric vehicle charging stations and seismic upgrades. Ygrene is committed to making it easy for families to invest in their future and a healthier environment. Over the next five years, YgreneWorks is projected to create tens of thousands of local jobs and invest hundreds of millions into local economies. Learn more at www.ygreneworks.com.

About Virgo Investment Group

Virgo is an opportunistic, value investor. Virgo invests in market dislocations and areas of corporate change targeting both less efficient market segments and identified themes (or "market seams") in the firm's core industries. A theme-based approach to idea generation, coupled with proactive sourcing, a flexible mandate and creative transaction structuring skills, allows the firm to create differentiated opportunities and target optimal risk-adjusted returns across market investment cycles. Virgo is an actively engaged investor that seeks to contribute ideas and human capital to the harvesting of value post-investment and has a successful history of partnering with founder entrepreneurs and management teams, like the team at Lease Corporation of America ("LCA") and Zippy Shell Incorporated, to support their growth initiatives. Founded in 2009, Virgo has invested $784 million, completing 43 investments to date. For more information, please visit www.virgo-llc.com.

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SOURCE Ygrene Energy Fund

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http://www.ygreneworks.com