On July 15th, 2024, Aurora Solar, Inc., a Prime Unicorn Index component, acquired Lyra Solar, a company focused on development and installation of solar power systems for residential and commercial properties. Lyra’s permit packaging software helps solar professionals create permit-ready plans, which will help Aurora reduce costs and complete projects more efficiently. Aurora’s new Employee Plan Exemption then went into effect on July 24th, offering a share price of $46.34 to employees. This marks a 47.4% increase from the $31.44 price per share offered in the previous employee plan, indicating an increase in Aurora’s own internal valuation since their last funding round.
Aurora Solar offers advanced software for designing and managing solar energy systems, with a focus on making the solar energy industry more efficient and accessible. The company’s platform is designed to streamline entire workflows from proposal to installation by providing design and financial analysis tools with data-driven insights. Acquiring Lyra will provide “instant, permit-ready proposals, backed by Aurora’s industry-leading accuracy”, which will ultimately enable more solar installations. Aurora’s platform has already been used to design over 20 million solar projects globally, and the new acquisition moves the company further towards its goal of being the market leader in U.S. residential plan set services and automation.
Aurora’s last fundraising round took place in 2022, where the company raised $200 million in its Series D round and garnered a $3.8 billion valuation. Aurora’s investors include Coatue, Fifth Wall, Energize Ventures, ICONIQ Capital, Pear VC, s28 Capital, and others.