Pay-As-You-Go (PAYG) solar company, Azuri Technologies, has raised $26 million in a funding round to expand its operations across Africa.
The Cambridge based company has provided solar systems to over 150,000 systems to off-grid uses in sub-saharan Africa since 2012. It already provides the PAYG energy products to people in Nigeria, Kenya, Tanzania and Zambia, and plans to expand to East and West Africa with the investment.
Related: Azuri Technologies wins 2019 winner of the Global Sustainable Development Goals Award
The funding round was led by Japanese industrial conglomerate Marubeni along with existing shareholders such as the IP Group. This has made Marubeni the largest shareholder in the company.
In recent times, Marubeni has significantly increased its investments in renewable energy companies in Africa. It bought a minority stake in US AI-powered clean energy project GridMarket for an undisclosed amount, and last year bought a 21pc stake in Tanzanian power business WASSHA.
Off Grid Electric, another African based solar system startup, in January 2018, raised $55 million in Series D round led by Helios Investment Partners, including GE ventures, the venture capital subsidiary of General Electric Company.
In total, around 600 million homes in Africa still do not have access to reliable electricity.
