Loanpal of Roseville, California, a major lender for residential solar installations, announced Monday that it will open a new operating center in Bentonville and create more than 100 financial technology jobs.
The company, formerly known as Paramount Equity LLC, expects to open its new office in the 8th Street Market in early March.
Loanpal said it plans to hire for positions in customer operations, partner management, software engineering and data science. And it plans to move several employees to Bentonville to help build its presence there.
"I am inspired to accelerate the growth of our company in Arkansas and look forward to making meaningful contributions in the heartland," Hayes Barnard, founder, chairman and CEO, said in a news release. "At the heart of our business is a drive to create more mission-driven American jobs that people are proud of, while building technology to connect a world in which we all live more sustainably."
Loanpal's platform aims to help businesses with fast and frictionless digital tools to deploy sustainable home products and services at scale. The company said its technology provides homeowners with flexible payment options that help them to realize savings while updating their homes with efficient technologies such as solar power, battery storage and energy-smart heating and cooling.
In an interview with CNBC last month, Barnard said Loanpal raised $800 million in equity over two rounds in 2020. He said the latest financing in late December valued the business at several billion dollars, though he wouldn't be more specific.
Barnard told the cable news network that revenue for the year doubled to $361 million. The company has about 900 employees
In a news release, Gov. Asa Hutchinson called Loanpal "a remarkable company," and said its decision to move to Bentonville "is another example of the growth our state continues to see in the fintech industry."
According to the Arkansas Economic Development Commission, the company is eligible for two incentives: the Tax Back program, which provides sales tax refunds on building materials, taxable machinery and equipment; and three years of the Create Rebate program, which is a cash rebate based on the company's annual payroll for new employees.
