Crowdfunding for clean cooking: Trends and insights from 2016–2024
Debt crowdfunding has emerged as a key channel for financing clean cooking companies, helping businesses scale operations and bridge financing gaps. A white paper by Crowd Power – an Energy 4 Impact program funded by UK aid through the Transforming Energy Access platform – provides a detailed analysis of debt-based crowdfunding in this space, building on the findings of the 2021 report published with Modern Energy Cooking Services (MECS).
Between 2016 and 2024, clean cooking-related debt crowdfunding experienced an average annual growth rate of 64%. In 2021, funding on these platforms tripled relative to earlier periods, and from 2021 to 2023, platforms consistently raised around $3 million per year. However, in 2024, overall funding volumes decreased by 40% to $2.1 million, a change driven by a shift toward smaller funding rounds—even as the number of active borrowers remained steady. This trend reflects an encouraging influx of new, smaller companies entering the market and successfully raising funds, while some established participants temporarily reduced their activity. This suggests that the market continues to support new entrants, leading to a decrease in the average amount raised per borrower.
The white paper highlights an evolving role for carbon finance in clean cooking investments. When the previous report with MECS was released in 2021, carbon revenue was rarely factored into loan servicing. Today, two-thirds of investments in the clean cooking sector are directed toward companies issuing carbon credits, with 90% of debt crowdfunding volumes coming from businesses that have established carbon projects. This development underscores the growing importance of verified carbon credits as an additional revenue stream that supports loan repayments and helps finance the setup costs of carbon projects.
Activity in clean cooking debt crowdfunding is concentrated in a few key markets. Between 2021 and 2024, Kenya accounted for nearly 60% of the funds raised – totalling approximately $7 million – while Zambia and India also featured prominently. Platforms such as bettervest and Charm Impact have been central to these transactions, with clean cooking campaigns representing a significant share of their overall energy access portfolios. Nonetheless, clean cooking remains a relatively small segment of energy access crowdfunding, which is largely dominated by commercial and industrial solar projects.
For many companies, debt crowdfunding serves as an important bridge to more substantial sources of capital. Several clean cooking enterprises have utilized these platforms to secure flexible, short-term financing prior to larger investment rounds. For instance, BURN raised $1.2 million on bettervest in 2021 before closing a $7.5 million round the following year, while Sistema.bio secured $1 million through Lendahand in 2021 ahead of a $15 million round in 2022. Smaller companies have also relied on crowdfunding as a stepping stone to pre-Series A and Series A financing.
The white paper demonstrates that debt crowdfunding is not only a viable and adaptable tool that meets both immediate financing needs and longer-term growth objectives for clean cooking companies. While its current share of overall energy access investment remains modest, its effectiveness in supporting early-stage and smaller borrowers – and in bridging to larger funding rounds – highlights its potential as the market matures. Crowd Power actively supports these initiatives by addressing systemic and operational challenges hindering the growth of crowdfunding in the energy access sector. The program provides targeted assistance to platforms, enabling them to develop innovative funding structures and de-risking mechanisms that facilitate access to capital for emerging clean cooking enterprises. Maintaining the flexibility and accessibility of this model, alongside the growing integration of carbon finance, will be essential to expanding support for emerging clean cooking initiatives and advancing sustainable energy access worldwide.
Download the full report, Crowdfunding for Clean Cooking: Trends and Insights, to explore these findings in greater detail.