Plural Energy is a new entrant in the online capital formation sector. The company aims to help renewable or green firms raise debt capital to finance projects. Plural aims to leverage the full stack of securities exemptions, including Reg CF, Reg A+, and Reg D. The platform’s first securities offering is open now for investment.
Ace Portfolio, the first offering, is projected to deliver up to 15% annual dividend yield for the existing contract period. The offering is for equity interests in a new entity, Solaris Renewable Equity A LLC. The company aims to raise up to $900,000.
CI connected with Plural founder and CEO Adam Silver to learn more about the funding platform and its relationship with Texture Capital, a broker-dealer in the securities crowdfunding sector. Our discussion is below.
How did you decide to launch Plural? Do you have a background in renewables?
Adam Silver: I’ve always been obsessed with the miracle of the light switch – a system of systems of systems that engages to make supply equal demand and the lights turn on. I started my career as an industrial consultant and was fascinated with power markets and the complications that come with renewables in those markets.
Years later, in 2022, the UN reported that we are currently $4T short of the amount of financing required to meet our climate goals. At the same time, I was getting the sense that more and more people wanted to invest in renewables – funds were always announcing net zero requirements, tech companies were announcing net zero goals, and more. I became curious about how both of these things could be true at the same time and suspected there was an opportunity. I quit my job and began forming a team of energy, tech, and legal experts to tackle the problem.
You have partnered with Texture Capital, a broker-dealer that also pursues online capital formation and leverages blockchain. How does your relationship work with Texture?
Adam Silver: Texture Capital serves as the broker-dealer of record on our offerings – we recently acquired a broker-dealer of our own and have commission-sharing agreements with Texture to support our deals as we stand up our broker-dealer. We also partner with Texture for its alternative trading system (ATS).
You have listed your first securities offering on Plural. It is a debt offering that is expected to return over 15% per year. Can you provide some more details on the security offering.
Adam Silver: I recommend folks check out our offering page to learn more about the investment opportunity currently available: Ace Portfolio. The Ace Portfolio is a portfolio of profitable solar assets that have been operating for over 5 years. Investors will essentially have the same economic rights as Solaris, the developer, and will get quarterly distributions from any potential project profits. They also will be able to access tax benefits associated with renewable investments.
Will you mainly pursue Reg CF offerings, or do you anticipate more Reg As or Reg Ds raising money on your platform?
Adam Silver: Plural will do Reg CF, Reg D, and Reg A offerings in the future.
How are you sourcing deals? What type of pipeline is in the queue? Will firms be exclusively solar, other types of renewables or perhaps affiliated firms?
Adam Silver: We currently have over $300 million of deals in our pipeline. We source deals from our networks as well as inbound from developers who are tired of the old way of financing. We then work hard to diligence the deals ourselves through our platform review committee before launching on Plural.
As of today, Plural works primarily with renewable and other climate-oriented assets. Later this year we plan to launch capital raises for solar and wind assets as well as Bitcoin mines used to balance the grid when energy production outweighs consumption.
How will you be leveraging blockchain technology? What about secondary trading?
Adam Silver: We are an SEC-registered transfer agent, and all trades are run through Texture Capital’s Alternative Trading System.
Every investment is represented as a digital share on the blockchain connected to our regulated Cap Table entity. Blockchain-powered smart contracts automate all back office functions, ranging from distributions to cap table management to share transfers.
What are your expectations for ramping up platform activity in 2024/2025? Will you be adding additional services to Plural?
Adam Silver: We will bring many more deals to market throughout 2024 and 2025. We will additionally launch features such as enhancing investment analytics, selecting different currencies for distributions, enabling investor voting and coordination, connecting debt markets to the platform, and partnering with other blockchain-powered products.
