A further three early-stage African energy companies have been onboarded to receive investment readiness assistance from Energy 4 Impact under the GET.invest Finance Readiness Support. Drive Electric, EcoGreen Solutions and Epsilon Energia Solar join BM Solutions and Ventura Logistics on the programme which prepares innovative start-ups to attract the investment needed to scale their solutions.

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Locally owned and managed companies are best placed to expand access to clean energy across off-grid regions of sub-Saharan Africa because they understand the needs and constraints of local consumers and can tailor their solutions accordingly. However, many early-stage companies struggle to attract investment for a variety of reasons, including lack of track record, relatively small size, lack of impact framework, sizeable financing requirements, and underdeveloped scalability trajectory. GET.invest, supported by the European Union, Germany, Sweden, the Netherlands, and Austria, is piloting their new finance readiness service through which Energy 4 Impact is helping promising companies  demonstrate their impact, strengthen their business model and articulate their value proposition, putting the companies in a stronger position to attract capital investment. This package of support includes market research, business planning, optimizing operations, partnership building, investment strategy advisory, pitch deck development and introduction to financiers, amongst other services.

The latest early-stage companies to join the GET.invest Finance Readiness Support portfolio supported by Energy 4 Impact are as follows:

Drive Electric is an e-mobility company seeking to expand their operations and bring their electric vehicles and charging equipment into reach for more low-income customers with consumer finance from local financial institutions. Investment readiness support from Energy 4 Impact will include market research to help the company identify suitable markets in East Africa for expansion beyond their current operations in Tanzania, Kenya and Uganda.  

EcoGreen Solutions is a Rwanda-based manufacturer and distributor of improved cookstoves seeking to expand their factory producing biomass pellets for cooking from organic waste. Technical assistance from Energy 4 Impact will put the company on the road to securing the catalytic funding they need to scale up their affordable and sustainable cooking solutions and reach new markets such as restaurants, schools and refugee camps.  

Epsilon Energia Solar (EES) is an established distributor of PAYG solar home systems in central Mozambique since 2017 and have more recently expanded into solar-powered cold storage and irrigation solutions. With investment readiness support from Energy 4 Impact, EES aims to secure further investment that will enable them to grow their supply chain operations, diversify their product range and scale their business across the country.

Meanwhile, Ventura Logistics and BM Solutions, the two companies onboarded in March 2022, are making strides in their journeys toward securing investment, with the former company securing a major loan and the latter opening negotiations with financiers.

Energy 4 Impact met Nigeria-based Ventura Logistics when the company was struggling with a dearth of data around potential demand for electricity at their three planned solar-powered mini-grid sites. So Energy 4 Impact contributed market research to assist demand forecasting whilst also helping the company develop their business model to include demand stimulation through the productive use of energy by small local enterprises and industries. With stronger evidence around the commercial viability of their sites, Ventura Logistics secured catalytic funding of $140,000 USD from FCMB Bank. Obinna Agwu, Managing Director and CEO of Ventura Logistics says, 

Energy 4 Impact helped solar product supplier BM Solutions develop a growth strategy for their irrigation and refrigeration product offerings with market information on agricultural value chains in Senegal and Benin. Deploying its established credibility in Benin, Energy 4 Impact introduced the company to rice and horticultural offtakers with a view to establishing partnerships that would make them more attractive to investors, whilst also facilitating discussions with local banks. Dr Alban Brice Mongbo, founder and Head of Business Development at BM Solutions comments,

Klaudine Wakasa, Director of Advisory at Energy 4 Impact comments,