Florida Climate Bank Hits $1.8B in Just 5 Years

A Florida bank is growing faster than almost any new financial institution in America, and it's doing it by betting everything on clean energy.

Climate First Bank opened its doors in St. Petersburg just five years ago with a mission most bankers would have called risky. It only finances environmental projects like solar arrays, community solar farms, and utility-scale battery storage systems.

Today, the bank manages $1.8 billion in assets. It nearly doubled in size during 2025 alone, making it one of the fastest-growing banks in the country.

Founder Ken LaRoe isn't new to banking success. He's already started and sold two other community banks during his career in Florida's financial industry. But after retiring in 2008 and reading about Patagonia founder Yvon Chouinard's philosophy that business should serve more than just shareholders, LaRoe came back with a different vision.

The secret to Climate First's explosive growth isn't fancy technology or algorithms. It's something almost old-fashioned: relationships.

The bank raised its startup capital through LaRoe's existing network of investors. It hired people who already knew Central Florida's solar industry inside and out. Most importantly, it invested serious time learning how solar developers work and what they need to succeed.

That relationship-first approach created a snowball effect. When one solar developer had a great experience with Climate First, they told every other solar developer they knew. Business cards started flying around industry conferences and project sites.

"I wish there were five of me that could be doing this work," says Hana Freymiller, the bank's Director of Project Finance. "There's just a tremendous need and also a tremendous opportunity right now in this country to do these types of projects."

The bank is already ahead of schedule to hit its ambitious goal of reaching $10 billion in assets within its first 10 years.

The Ripple Effect

Climate First's success is creating waves far beyond Florida. The bank has found particular success in blue cities within red states, where local communities are hungry for clean energy financing regardless of state-level politics.

Much of its growth happens in places with green banks. These public or quasi-public institutions provide loan guarantees that make green lending less risky for private banks like Climate First.

Chief Sustainability Officer Chris Castro says the bank is now looking for partners to help scale its model beyond what any single institution can achieve. The goal isn't just to grow Climate First, but to show other community banks across America that financing sustainability can be profitable and powerful.

Five years in, Climate First Bank has proven that banking for the planet isn't just idealistic. It's smart business that helps communities build a cleaner future while creating solid returns.