SunFunder recognised for ‘2X Challenge’ financing for women initiative

We signed an agreement earlier this month on qualifying for the 2X Challenge for our leadership in promoting the economic empowerment of women.

The agreement with Swedfund, DFC and OeEB – the development finance institutions (DFIs) of Sweden, the United States and Austria – recognises their investments in SunFunder’s most recent fund as qualifying for the 2X Challenge. The three DFIs are investors in SunFunder’s Solar Energy Transformation (SET) Fund, which closed last year.

As a gender lens investor, SunFunder qualifies for providing capital to businesses that demonstrate gender empowerment, as well as gender equity within its own team.

“We built SunFunder with gender equity at the heart of our team and our impact. Most of our team are women, and our investments, advisory, legal and operations are all led by women. We’re grateful for this 2X Challenge recognition – SunFunder will continue to be at the forefront of gender lens investing.”

- Audrey Desiderato, SunFunder's Co-Founder and COO

The agreement broadly recognises SunFunder’s gender leadership, which is core to the company’s values. SunFunder was co-founded by Audrey Desiderato and continues to be steered by a diverse leadership team, with women comprising half of its management team, a third of its board and more than half of its team overall.

SunFunder qualified across four 2X Challenge criteria, namely entrepreneurship, leadership, employment and investments through financial intermediaries, i.e. portfolio, with the fifth not having been tracked.

Our new $500 million Gigaton Empowerment Fund will also be a flagship for gender lens investing. Targeting a first close later this year, it will incorporate 2X criteria in screening and portfolio monitoring, to show how investees integrate gender diversity and how their products benefit women directly.

Women are often excluded from financial markets and are limited in their economic and social potential. The 2x Challenge initiative, founded by the Development Finance Institutions of the

G7 nations, is considered the gold standard for gender-lens investing. It is committed to advancing opportunities for women in the projects and companies it supports and aims to mobilise $15 billion in 2022.