*Bees
by lucasabia

This Startup Has Successfully Crowdfunded €6 Million for African Energy Access

London-based next generation utility BBOX has successfully crowdfunded €6 million (£5.15m) for its African solar projects through a Swedish crowdfunding site focusing on sustainable investing in solar energy, Tribe, in what has been defined the largest crowd-funded debt raise in the history of solar energy in Africa havng involved more than 4,400 investors across Europe.

With operations in 12 African countries since 2010, thanks to this new round BBOX will now accelerate installation of pay-as-you-go solar home systems in Kenya, Rwanda, Togo, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Mali, Senegal and Guinea positively impacting the lives of over 200,000 underserved people in these countries.

Mansoor Hamayun, CEO and Co-Founder of BBOXX said: “Hundreds of millions of people in Africa still live without electricity. Collaborating with Trine has allowed us to tap into retail investors who share our vision for transforming people’s lives through sustainable energy provision. Crowdfunding can change the way the solar industry is financed as well as putting pressure on existing investors in the space to adapt their business models – both of which will be beneficial for customers. Electricity is only the starting point. Access to energy brings people into the digital economy, creates new markets and generates demands in other areas, such as water, internet and finance. These are demands which BBOXX also seeks to meet. This is the key to unlocking Africa’s full economic potential.”

Sam Manaberi, CEO and co-founder of Trine, added, “We’ve witnessed unprecedented demand from retail investors who want to invest sustainably in solar energy in growing markets, for example Africa. Trine has also shown that having a positive impact on climate change can be met with competitive returns on investment. Crowdfunding is a useful low-cost flexible type of finance that allows high-growth businesses like BBOXX to scale.”

Find out more here.