Apex Venture Partners Expands Portfolio to Include Renewable Energy

CHICAGO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Apex Venture Partners announced today that it has expanded its growing portfolio to include California-based SolFocus, Inc., where it led the company’s C Round of funding. SolFocus announced the closing of its $77.6 million C Round earlier today. Apex’s decision to lead the investment in SolFocus represents a deliberate expansion of its portfolio base into the renewable energy sector. Apex Venture Partners, which was established in 1987, has six funds and more than $600 million under management. Apex typically focuses on early stage investments in software applications, technology-enabled services, IT infrastructure and telecommunications. This is the firm’s third investment in the renewable energy sector and its first investment in solar energy.

Apex’s decision to diversify into this sector follows their investment approach, which emphasizes a disciplined evaluation of each investment opportunity, taking into account key criteria including market, management, product and business model. While the overall PV market is growing at 30+ percent annually, SolFocus serves the high solar resource segment, which is growing at a much higher rate, approaching 50%. The company’s products are focused on power-field applications and are being deployed globally. Explaining the firm’s investment decision, General Partner, Wayne Boulais said, “SolFocus has a strong management team with a proven track record in volume manufacturing and project deployment in large companies. Many alternative energy ventures will have difficulty making the transition from R&D to volume deployment and the SolFocus team has success in leading entrepreneurial companies to navigate the critical turn from R&D into commercialization. The company’s products are industry-leading and meet under-served customer needs for high energy yield, and its business model can drive solar energy costs to parity with fossil fuels.”

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