Announcing the Crux debt marketplace: Access liquid, efficient financing

Energy demand is growing for the first time in 20 years, driven by surging manufacturing, transportation, electrification, and data centers. Simultaneously, hundreds of billions are being invested in domestic supply chains for critical minerals and components. Clean energy developers and manufacturers need trillions of dollars in capital to meet this unprecedented need. 

But raising capital remains arduous. Energy developers and manufacturers raise six or more different types of capital for every project — including initial equity, development loans, construction loans, bridge loans, preferred equity, tax equity, and/or the transfer of tax credits. These financing markets are fragmented, illiquid, and opaque. The investors for each type of capital are often distinct and require separate negotiation and diligence processes. This leaves developers and manufacturers uncertain of their capital options, resulting in painful capital raises and, ultimately, slower timelines to build projects.

We launched Crux in early 2023 with the mission to supercharge the clean economy by making capital markets more liquid, efficient, and intelligent. We first tackled transferable tax credits — a new market that needed new solutions — developing the central marketplace and assembling an expert team (35 and counting). We have now facilitated more than 65 transactions totaling billions of dollars across advanced manufacturing, battery storage, bioenergy, critical minerals, geothermal, hydropower, microgrids, solar, and wind.

We’ve also published the authoritative market intelligence based on our database of $25 billion of tax credit transactions. This data powers our platform and gives our customers intelligence to make decisions, bringing transparency to a quickly growing market. With tax credits, we have proven that the market benefits from a central software platform to deliver liquidity, efficiency, and intelligence. Transferable tax credits also created a common form of collateral (ITCs/PTCs) across a wide range of previously heterogeneous projects — creating the opportunity to apply a similar approach to other parts of the capital stack.

Our vision has always been to support developers and manufacturers through the entire lifecycle of capital formation. Over the last 18 months, developers and manufacturers increasingly expressed interest in raising other forms of capital on the same platform where they sell tax credits. Lenders have continually sought access to Crux’s network of developers and manufacturers — 250 and counting. Our bank and asset manager partners who are active as buyers and sellers of credits on Crux are constantly looking for origination opportunities. With many borrowers and lenders in the market, there’s a clear need for a central platform to deliver liquidity, efficiency, and intelligence. 

So today, we’re launching the next phase of our capital markets technology platform: the Crux debt marketplace. Developers and manufacturers can now use Crux to access a range of debt products — including bridge loans, construction financing, senior notes, revolver facilities, and more — alongside our powerful tax credit marketplace.

On Crux, developers and manufacturers can rapidly access the right lenders based on the unique characteristics of each transaction and a deep understanding of lender investment profiles. Many developers have already received multiple indications of interest or term sheets within a week. Through the platform launched today, data and underwriting information are easily shared with new capital providers across debt and tax credits through Crux, further expediting the financing process. More than 80 developers representing $9 billion in lending opportunities have already identified capital needs via Crux.

Lenders on Crux gain access to a steady pipeline of qualified investment opportunities tailored to their unique preferences, enabling them to spend less time on origination and more on evaluation. By surfacing the key characteristics of each opportunity in a single place, lenders can transact with greater speed and transparency. The platform’s robust data helps lenders assess risk more effectively, allowing them to scale lending operations non-linearly. More than 75 investors are already in the Crux capital network and have collectively issued $1.1 billion in term sheets in the last quarter alone. This group includes banks, private credit firms, pensions, specialty lenders, and family offices. Together, these firms have more than $100 billion of annual lending capacity.

Developers and manufacturers will no longer start at square zero with each subsequent capital raise, juggling multiple manual processes with limited continuity of information and due diligence.  Crux seeks to transform the way developers and manufacturers raise capital through a centralized platform — a shared destination for all parties that offers transparency, transaction standards, and tools to facilitate efficient deal execution.

In the coming months, we’ll be sharing additional updates on:

• Even more financing solutions available on the Crux platform.
• Tools and standards to streamline tax credit and debt transactions.
• Market intelligence on project finance embedded in the platform.

Our world is changing rapidly and there has never been a greater need for energy and manufacturing finance than there is today. Financing markets need to be much more efficient to facilitate the scale of infrastructure that will be built over the coming decade and beyond. We started by solving challenges in the transferable tax credit space, and now we’re bringing that same efficiency, liquidity, and market intelligence to every stage of energy and manufacturing finance — helping builders and lenders move faster and with greater confidence at a time of unprecedented industry growth.

To learn more about the debt marketplace, get in touch today.