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Enphase gets $15 million in Series C venture funding

PETALUMA, Sept. 9, 2008 -- Enphase Energy, the Petaluma micro-inverter maker for the solar industry, has closed a Series C round of $15 million in venture funding, the company announced today.

Launched just last June, the micro-inverters are in demand that even exceeds the company’s expectations, according to Enphase vice president of marketing Raghu Belur.

“We’ll be shipping tens of thousands by the end of the year,” he said. The units are manufactured in Morgan Hill and sold to major distributors like DC Power Systems, AEE Solar and Solar Depot. Enphase also sells directly to large installers like Borrego Solar and Marin Solar (RealGoods).

The startup previously raised $6.5 million in Series B funding. RockPort Capital Partners led the new round. Existing institutional investors Third Point Ventures and Applied Ventures LLC, the VC arm of Applied Materials Inc., also participated.

The funds will go toward ramping up manufacturing and continued research and development, said Mr. Belur.

The Enphase system includes high-efficiency micro-inverts, communications and Web-based analytics to maximize energy harvest and simplify design, installation and management of solar projects. The systems increase energy harvest by anywhere from 5 percent to 25 percent and reduce labor costs by about 15 percent.

Enphase currently employs 50 in its Petaluma headquarters. Within the next 12 months it will grow its staff to about 100, said Mr. Belur.

Enphase recently doubled its space to about 10,000 square feet. It will continue to expand as demand increases for its products, he said.