Nigerian Startup Infibranches Raises $2 Million, Plans To Close Energy Distribution Gap

Infibranches Technologies Limited, a Nigerian fintech startup, has secured $2 million funding from All On, an impact investment company backed by oil and gas giant, Shell.

Infibranches provides digital payment services to solar energy providers. Through its flagship products – OmniBranches and Green Energy Plug – Infibranches helps companies with large distribution networks, particularly Solar Home System (SHS) distributors and mini-grid developers, manage their operations. Specifically, OmniBranches aids last-mile services through an active network of agents, and its features include agent hierarchy management, commission tracking, transaction records, transaction analytics, and profile management. Green Energy Plug, on the other hand, is a secure platform that serves as a single point of integration for payments and other financial services for service providers in the Nigerian renewable energy sector. It facilitates payment collection through agent networks across the country; through the platform, companies can receive payments for solar and other green energy products.

With the newly secured funds, the company plans to close the energy distribution gap in underserved rural and peri-urban areas of Nigeria. All On’s investment will “trigger the next phase of Infibranches’ growth” by financing inventory and agent acquisition, product and technology development, as well as providing working capital, a joint statement released by both companies said.

Chief Executive Officer of All On, Dr. Wiebe Boer, said that he was particularly excited about the deal “because it’s an innovative business model that solves the payments and collections problems that solar system distributors and mini-grid developers face across Nigeria.” He added that the partnership merges fintech and renewables in a way that has not been seen in Nigeria before, and that it will enable tens of thousands of new electricity connections.

Olusola Owoyemi, Chief Executive Officer of Infibranches, also expressed excitement over the new deal, highlighting its potential to close the energy distribution gap. “Through this investment, Infibranches plans to speed up customer acquisition in its current markets. This will also improve existing products like Omnibranches, which has served over a million customers, and introduce new products and services to address energy distribution issues”, he said.

With the investment, Infibranches will also be working with the Nigerian Off-Grid Market Acceleration Programme, NoMAP,  to combat energy distribution challenges, in addition to broader off-grid market challenges in Nigeria. NoMAP is a not-for-profit initiative tasked with tackling market barriers limiting the growth of the off-grid sector and was launched in 2018 by Shell Foundation, UK aid, and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID).