BURN Manufacturing (BURN), a prominent clean cookstove production company based in Kenya, has successfully raised upwards of $12 million in funding, with the primary aim of amplifying the distribution of its clean cooking products throughout Africa.
This funding is the result of a successful follow-on carbon project investment initiative, which was spearheaded by Key Carbon Ltd. Previously known as CNR “Carbon Neutral Royalty”, Key Carbon Ltd is now leading the charge to finance BURN’s expansion.
The investment round also saw significant backing from the global private equity firm, Cartesian. Renowned for its investment in innovative projects, especially those that focus on climate mitigation and decarbonization, Cartesian continues its ethos by supporting BURN’s mission of promoting clean cooking, thereby reducing carbon emissions. With this new influx of capital, BURN is now well-positioned to extend its clean cooking solutions to a larger demographic, thereby playing a crucial role in improving air quality and reducing deforestation in Africa.
BURN Manufacturing has revealed that this latest $12 million investment will be used to increase the distribution of its electric cookstoves in countries such as Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, and Zambia. Additionally, the company intends to promote the use of its biomass stoves across Nigeria, Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), Tanzania, and Mozambique within the upcoming two years.
These initiatives are particularly significant in light of the challenges posed by traditional cooking methods in Sub-Saharan Africa. Currently, there is a large proportion of the population – estimated around 950 million people – who are dependent on antiquated techniques. These often involve the use of traditional fuels like charcoal or firewood which initiate a myriad of negative impacts.
The health implications are significant, from exposure to harmful smoke and associated respiratory ailments to the risks of burn injuries. Moreover, the environmental cost is high, with increased deforestation and carbon emissions due to the inefficient fuel use. Economically, continually having to procure these traditional fuels imposes a financial burden on families. Furthermore, there are significant implications in terms of gender equality, as the task of securing cooking fuel often falls disproportionately on women and girls, hindering their access to education and employment, and posing safety risks.
This is why BURN’s efforts to expand the reach of their cleaner and more sustainable cooking solutions is a vital step in addressing the aforementioned issues faced by communities in Sub-Saharan Africa.
BURN Manufacturing’s Founder and CEO, Peter Scott, highlighted the significant positive change the company has made since 2014. He noted that their industry-leading electric and biomass stoves have already transformed the lives of over 24 million people. This achievement will be greatly magnified with the recent investment, broadening the impact to accommodate an extra 1.5 million people.
Scott further explained how these products will lead to environmental improvements by avoiding over 12 million tons of carbon emissions in the next seven years. In 2021, BURN received $25 million in funding from Key Carbon. This financing allowed the company to make their products more affordable, thereby increasing their accessibility and usage. Scott expressed his delight over the continuation of this partnership with Key Carbon and shared the ambitious goal of raising $1 billion in carbon financing. This, he believes, will enable them to make clean cooking a reality for every household on the continent.
The utilization of carbon financing has played a crucial role in BURN’s efforts towards making clean cooking affordable, especially to low-income households. By subsidizing the cost of its cookstoves, BURN has made them more accessible to a broader demographic. In turn, this recent investment in their top-notch electric and biomass cookstoves suggests that an estimated 1.5 million people will reap direct benefits, contributing significantly to reducing carbon emissions by an estimated 12 million tons.
According to Luke Leslie, Co-Founder and CEO of Key Carbon, the company has been successful in drawing the attention of institutional investors and corporations to the Voluntary Carbon Market (VCM). This success owes much to the creation of attractive investable products.
Leslie points out that the VCM holds significant potential to expedite climate and biodiversity conservation measures, and also immensely benefit some of the world’s most vulnerable communities. However, this requires more global asset managers and corporations to regard carbon credits as an investable asset class.
The most recent funding arrangement with private equity firm, Cartesian, further reinforces the position of Key Carbon as an established pathway for investors. Investors seeking to finance decarbonization projects that are impactful and access high-quality carbon credits now have a preferred route. Leslie sees this as yet another endorsement of Key Carbon’s credibility and effectiveness in the sphere of climate finance.
