Aurora’s founders, Samuel Adeyemo and Christopher Hooper, met while earning MBAs at Stanford’s Graduate School of Business. The idea for Aurora was inspired by a trip to Nairobi, Kenya, where they were commissioned to install a solar energy system for a local school. The installation of 220 panels took two weeks, but planning was done remotely and took over six months. They knew they could improve the process, so Sam and Chris founded Aurora in 2013.

We met the Aurora team in 2013 at Stanford Office Hours and quickly bonded over our love of soccer. After forming the business, they worked out of the Pear office for almost two years, working side-by-side on critical issues from technical onboarding to the company vision and strategy.

We wrote the first check into Aurora and helped them grow to Unicorn status. We partnered closely on their Series A fundraising strategy. We provided consulting on many areas of the business, including recruiting key employees and connecting them with key members of the Pear network.