Infrastructure-focused equity investor, STOA and candi solar, a clean energy company providing solar power to commercial and industrial (C&I) customers have announced the closing of Candi’s series B fundraising.
STOA was joined in this financing round by the Energy Entrepreneurs Growth Fund and most existing shareholders, notably the renewable energy specialist Gaia Impact Fund
The new investment will enable candi to strengthen its business in India and expand across Africa. Also, the funding will drive the execution of its new solar projects in India and Africa, particularly South Africa, to reach 800 MWp of solar capacity installed by 2028.
candi has already contracted 40 MWp of solar capacity in India and South Africa and has demonstrated its ability to build a scalable platform that offers tailored solutions to its customers. The company has developed unique contractual and financial innovations to allow customers who have been historically underserved by the solar market, notably small and medium-sized enterprises, to generate their power from cleaner and more reliable energy. By operating in countries where electricity production is heavily carbon-based, the systems deployed by candi could mitigate the emission of 250,000 tCO2e per year on average over the next 6 years.
Following the successful placement of its convertible loan offering one year ago, candi chose STOA as its preferred partner for the closing of this series B. As lead investor, STOA brought its in-depth corporate, financial, and ESG expertise to structure a transaction that met all parties’ needs.
This is the second investment in the solar C&I space for STOA, demonstrating its ability to keep abreast of new market trends and diversify its portfolio beyond traditional infrastructure projects. This transaction also fits perfectly with STOA’s commitment to dedicate at least 50% of its investments to Africa, and towards projects with climate benefits.
Commenting on the transaction, Marie-Laure Mazaud, CEO of STOA, noted, “This investment confirms STOA’s appetite for the distributed solar sector, i.e. small-size solar power plants located close to the customers, which are by nature quick to install and fit-for-purpose. STOA’s conviction is that the deployment of behind-the-meter solutions is as important as the installation of traditional utility-scale projects, in our common goal to reach democratisation of renewable energy and ultimately fight climate change. In addition, we have been impressed by the founders’ capacity to build a world-class international team able to constantly remain at the forefront of new technical, financial and contractual solutions to keep pace with the evolving market for distributed power generation and are thrilled to engage in this journey with them.”
Fabio Eucalipto, Finance Director at candi, added, “Earlier this year we selected STOA as lead investor in our Series B. Today, after a smooth process run by a highly skilled investment team, we warmly welcome them as a shareholder. In STOA, we found a partner that not only shares our values but is also strongly aligned with our company’s purpose of powering a more sustainable planet, one rooftop at a time. We would also like to extend our thanks to our existing stakeholders for their strong ongoing support. The closing of this round catapults our company into the next stage of growth which foresees investing more than USD 100 million into solar assets by 2024.”
