Dear reader,
Tropical.
When you read that word, what comes to mind? Warm weather? Beaches? One too many mai tais in a coconut shell?
Tropical countries are also great places to use the sunlight to produce electricity. As is the case with the startup we cover today. In fact, the “sun” is so essential to their value proposition that it’s in their name.
SunFund helps Filipino homeowners and businesses transition from fossil fuel to solar by financing their solar energy setup.
With just 10 employees, SunFund has financed rooftop solar installations worth PHP 67.84mn (~$11.6mn) in 2025. They recently raised a $500K seed round to expand operations.
I was surprised to find out that the cost of electricity in the Philippines is one of the highest in Southeast Asia. Solar energy, cheaper and more sustainable than fossil fuels, is essential in reducing Filipinos’ electricity bills.
Below is our exclusive 4,000-word+ interview with SunFund’s co-founder John Altomonte.
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Let’s dive in.
Biography
John Altomonte is the co-founder and CEO of SunFund, a startup providing financing for Filipino households and businesses to install rooftop solar power systems. SunFund recently closed a $500,000 pre-seed round led by Kaya Founders, a Filipino VC.
Before SunFund, John was the president of Verne Energy Solutions, a sustainable energy consultancy firm, and was a consultant with the World Wildlife Fund (WWF). John is an environmental scientist by training.
You’ve been involved in clean energy for over a decade. What led you to identify solar as the space to build a company in?