Kenyan Energy Company Solarise Africa Receives $5.9m Debt Funding

Solarise Africa, an energy company, recently received US$5.9 million in debt funding from Trine, a Swedish impact investing platform, to propel the company’s growth and expansion across Africa.

Founded in 2017 by Patrik Huber, Jan Albert Valk, Sakkie van Wijk, Solarise Africa is a pan-African energy leasing company for solar and other energy assets focusing on commercial and industrial clients (C&I).

Commenting on the company’s latest debt financing, Solarise’s Chief Executive Officer and co-founder, Jan Albert Valk said: “Our first debt raise marks a milestone for the business. We are deeply honored by Trine’s and its investors’ confidence. These funds will be used to deploy projects and expand market share in current operational countries. At the moment, Solarise Africa has operations in Kenya, South Africa, Rwanda, Uganda, and Ghana where several projects have been deployed, and our pipeline continues to expand quickly. We are excited to make our Energy-as-a-Service offering available to more partners so that we can actively drive Africa’s progress together.”

Last year, the company completed a US$10 million Series B funding round through a small group of partners, and it has now added EUR5 million in loans from Trine, an investment service developed exclusively to give debt capital to innovative solar-focused enterprises in emerging economies.

Trine’s Chief Executive Officer and co-founder, Sam Manaberi, expressed excitement for the new alliance as his company expanded into the commercial and industrial industry; he said: “This presents a new offering for our investors as Solarise Africa works with a selected group of renewable energy solution companies and collaborates very closely with their partners to provide a range of tailor-made financial solutions for their customers. Their innovative financing solutions are very impressive and we are glad to have them on board and look forward to following their continued success.”

The latest funds will be released across multiple tranches and will be used to propel investments in food security, renewable energy, urban development, and manufacturing and production in South Africa, Kenya, Ghana, and Rwanda. The first disbursement will fund five solar projects in South Africa and Kenya.