ImpactAlpha, August 12 – Los Angeles-based cleantech incubator LACI last year launched a debt fund for underrepresented founders “to play a role in scaling cleantech startups much earlier than conventionally understood.” It has made 10 investments, the latest being SparkCharge, a Massachusetts-based company building a network of rapid electric vehicle charging stations.
Other portfolio companies include Los Angeles-based Green Commuter, an electric car-sharing fleet provider; Perch Mobility, which partners with local governments and property owners to install electric charging stations for e-scooters and e-bikes; and San Francisco-based Nevados, which makes a solar tracker to maximize solar panels’ efficiency.
LACI has raised $160,000 for the debt fund from Wells Fargo and Union Bank. The fund makes loans of $20,000 to $45,000 at 7% to 9.5%. Borrowers repay the loans over four to 36 months.
