Malian startup, Energy+ raises over $1M funding
Malian off-grid solar company, Energy+ has raised over $1 million in funding from a consortium of international financing partners.
The funding included an equity and fully funded enterprise development services (EDS) from VentureBuilder, who led the round, debt from Cordaid Investment Management (Cordaid), and grant financing from the United States African Development Foundation (USADF).
Energy+ is an off-grid solar company with the aim to provide affordable and reliable energy to households
CEO of Energy+, Simballa Sylla said, “In countries such as ours, pay-as-you-go is the best way to bring quality solar home systems to off-grid areas because it makes energy access easy and affordable. With the help of VentureBuilder, Cordaid and USADF, we will be in a position to transition, in a strategic manner, from a producer of small electrical batteries to a large scale distributor of high-quality solar products.”
“Energy+ brings a powerful combination of remarkable execution capability alongside decades of market experience,” said Dan Murphy, Managing Director of VentureBuilder. “With our financing and advisory support, we’re confident the Energy+ team is well positioned to mitigate the downside risks associated with the COVID-19 pandemic and to blend their unique local market knowledge with international good practice.”
As at now, Mali has 60 percent of its 20 million population still living without access to modern electricity services.
However the fresh funds would allow Energy+ to scale its off-grid business throughout the country by expanding its pay-as-you-go and cash sales offerings via its retail network
Managing Director of Cordaid stated, “Energy+ is an exciting addition to our growing Malian SME portfolio. Energy+ will create jobs and bring clean energy where it is most needed, and the experienced promoters have shown that they can deliver despite a very challenging market. We look forward to a long-term partnership with Energy+ to finance their continuing growth, and in doing so meet our social impact ambitions in Mali and the region,” shared Hann Verheijen, .
Furthermore, President and CEO of USADF, C.D. Glin added, “We are proud to support Energy+ alongside VentureBuilder and Cordaid. Our investment in Energy+ is aligned with USADF’s mandate to support African off-grid energy enterprises to help them grow, overcome the many hurdles they may face as entrepreneurs, and reach underserved communities in Africa. In Mali, as part of our efforts in the region through USADF’s Sahel-Horn Off-grid Energy Challenge, we look forward to helping Energy+ increase access to electricity and support the digitization of the off-grid sector through pay-as-go systems.”
The funding canes at a time Energy+ is well-positioned to leverage its deep experience in Mali to tackle the challenges presented by the COVID-19 pandemic at the same time delivering life-changing electricity services to underserved areas of the country.
Energy+ was founded in May 2017. Since it started operations in 2019, Energy+ boasts to have sold thousands of light off-grid solar products in Mali through its easy-to-use pay-as-you-go and cash system.