Nithio, an AI-enabled energy financing platform in Africa, announced that it has secured $10 million from U.S. Development Finance Corporation (DFC) to scale its data-driven financing to impact more 3.5 million people by 2025 and drive climate change adaptation efforts in Kenya, Uganda, and Nigeria.
This investment alongside FSD Africa Investments and EDFI-ElectriFI, finalized Nithio FI’s first round of $23 million.
Nithio is an energy financing platform powered by a proprietary AI-enabled risk analytics engine. It developed its innovative approach to standardize credit risk assessments in order to unlock and scale energy access in Sub-Saharan Africa. It advances energy financing at scale through its Financial Intermediary, Nithio FI B.V., which offers receivables-backed financing to off-grid energy providers in Nigeria, Uganda and Kenya. Driven by the Risk Analytics Engine, Nithio FI’s innovative approach expands access to off-grid clean energy for households, micro businesses, and smallholder farmers.
To date, Nithio has invested in four high-impact off-grid solar and microfinance institutions in Kenya and Nigeria, including VEP, Rafode, Winock, and A4&T Power Solutions.
It has built a strong pipeline and looks forward to continuing to build strong partnerships with companies focused on providing solar energy for powering homes, businesses, and agricultural activities. These products not only bring clean energy access, they increase resilience to climate change.
According to Bobby Pittman, Nithio Co-Founder and Founding Partner at Kupanda Capital, “Nithio has created an innovative, data-driven solution that fills a large gap in the market to sustainably scale capital flows to the clean energy sector. By standardizing credit risk, Nithio’s investments will have an outsized impact towards achieving universal energy access and combating the effects of climate change.
