News: UK-based firm crowdfund €1 million for Kenya operations

News: UK-based firm crowdfund €1 million for Kenya operations

UK-based off-grid developer BBOXX and online renewable energy investment platform Trine have raised €1 million (£833,000) from crowdfunded investments in less than one month.

The financing will be disbursed at the beginning of April, to enable BBOXX to scale up its operations in Kenya.

Online investment platform, Trine launched the first of six crowdfunding rounds for off-grid developer BBOXX on February 10, and hit its €1 million target on March 9.

The two organizations plan further investment rounds through Trine’s online platform to raise a total of €6 million (£5,300,000), which according to BBOXX will be the largest crowd sourced capital raise in the history of off-grid solar.

Mansoor Hamayun, CEO and co-founder of BBOXX, believes the speed at which the funds were raised shows the enormous interest in tackling energy poverty.

“There are over 1 billion people without access to reliable electricity; it is a truly global challenge,” he said.

“Our smart solar systems provide reliable energy access, delivering power for lights, home appliances and smartphones, which make a huge impact to economic development among the world’s poorest communities. We will be using the €1 million raised to expand our operations in Kenya to deliver the on-grid experience to a further 10,000 households.”

BBOXX has seen several successful investment rounds recently, closing a US$5 million (£4.4 million) deal with Essential Capital Consortium back in October, and setting up a platform for the deployment of US$50 million (£44 million) in equity with Bamboo Capital Partners in February 2018.

Off-grid developers operating in Africa have emerged as a hot commodity for investors in recent months, with several high profile acquisitions seen in the sector, the biggest of which is probably ENGIE’s acquisition of U.S.-based Fenix International, which specializes in off-grid rooftop systems and primarily operates in Uganda.

Source: Energyzine