Kenyan energy leasing company Solarise Africa has been awarded EUR1 million (US$1.12 million) in grant funding from the Energy and Environment Partnership Trust Fund (EEP Africa) to take its solar leasing model into Uganda and Zambia.
Founded in 2018 by Patrik Huber, Jan Albert Valk and Sakkie van Wijk, Solarise Africa provides decentralised renewable energy solutions to commercial and industrial (C&I) businesses, bundling the technology with the long-term financing needed to pay for it.
The EEP Africa grant is matched by another EUR1 million in co-financing from Solarise Africa itself, making up a EUR2 million (US$1.24 million), 24-month programme. The money will be used to set up operations in Uganda and Zambia and deploy 3MW of new renewable energy capacity for businesses and social institutions, including solar PV, battery storage and, where appropriate, heat pumps.
Under the project’s milestones, Solarise Africa will have to report and verify at least 4.5GWh of renewable electricity generation and 3,600 tonnes of avoided CO₂ emissions.
“This grant represents much more than entry into two new markets. It is an opportunity to demonstrate that a model we have spent years building and refining can be successfully replicated across Africa,” said Valk, Solarise’s CEO.
“Businesses across the continent face the same fundamental challenge: they need energy that is more reliable, more affordable and cleaner, but the capital and financing structures required to make that transition are not always readily available. Our role is to bridge that gap.”
The company says the grant is intended as catalytic capital, lowering the barriers to entering new markets and laying the groundwork for larger private investment down the line.
“The long-term opportunity goes far beyond this project,” said COO van Wijk. “Our objective is to build commercially sustainable operations in Uganda and Zambia that can continue deploying energy infrastructure well beyond the grant period.”
Solarise Africa has raised equity and debt from a range of African and international investors and development finance institutions as it has grown beyond Kenya. Disrupt Africa reported in 2019 that it had held a second closing of its Series A round, before it raised a US$10 million Series B the following year. In December 2022, it banked an additional US$3 million from EDFI ElectriFI.
Passionate about the vibrant tech startups scene in Africa, Tom can usually be found sniffing out the continent's most exciting new companies and entrepreneurs, funding rounds and any other developments within the growing ecosystem.