Nigeria’s Solar Energy Startup Arnergy Raises USD 9 Mn Series A To Scale Operations

Victoria Island-based solar energy distribution company, Arnergy, has raised USD 9 Mn in Series A to fund its commercial growth with new business models, improve on partnership avenues, and expand its activities.

The funding round was led by Breakthrough Energy Ventures, while Shell-funded All On Energy, the European Union-backed ElectriFI and the Norwegian Investment Fund for Developing Countries (Norfund) participated in the capital injection.

Arnergy was founded in 2014 by Femi Adeyemo and Kunle Odebunmi. It provides solar power systems to homes and businesses, with a special focus on companies spanning the hospitality, education, financial, agriculture, and healthcare industries. In the last half-a-decade, the startup claims to have installed over 2 MW of clean energy solutions for more than 2,000 clients.

Femi Adeyemo, Anergy CEO, said the company is delighted to enter the next development phase with like-minded investors that want to tackle long-faced energy challenges in Nigeria, among other emerging market economies.

“We believe that energy needs in Nigeria have surpassed rudimentary requirements of low power utilization and our product offerings are solving for reliability and not just access,” he added.

The solar company’s distributed energy systems leverage the amalgamation of solar power, superior storage solutions, and proprietary remote management technologies.

It uses this to deliver scalable, reliable, and affordable solutions designed to address the problems associated with intermittency and grid unreliability.

“Arnergy inherently understands the West African market and its need for power reliability,” said Carmichael Roberts of Breakthrough Energy Ventures. “Creating accessibility to reliable renewable energy sources is paramount to economic growth in this region.

With Arnergy’s technology, we can significantly decrease carbon emissions, and it’s a model that can be replicated all over the developing world.”

A World Bank and Rocky Mountain Institute (RMI) study shows that Nigerians consume around USD 9 Bn every year using inefficient fuels. According to the RMI, an estimate of USD 4.4 Bn would be saved in the country if her citizens use renewable energy solutions.

The IMF says Nigeria’s lack of access to reliable electricity costs the West African Country around USD 29 Mn annually.

Nigeria faces a significant power problem. While sustainable electricity is still a thing of the future, one of every two Nigerians does not have access to electricity, according to the Rural Electrification Agency.

The use of fossil fuel generators – producing some 15 GW of electricity – poses serious harm to human and environmental health. If improved, electricity, according to the IMF, can increase household per capita income by 39 percent.

Damilola Ogunbiyi, the CEO of the Rural Electrification Agency (REA), said: “I am delighted that Arnergy, a homegrown company and one of the market leaders for off-grid energy in Nigeria, has reached this milestone to raise capital from such an impressive group of local and international investors.

It is a validation of all the hard work the REA and all of our partners are doing to create an enabling environment for off-grid development”.

“Access to clean and stable energy is a prerequisite for job creation and development. Norfund is proud to support the expansion of Arnergy which will provide Nigerian households and businesses on a weak-grid connection with a cheaper, cleaner and more reliable power solution to meet their daily needs,” commented Mark Davis, EVP Clean Energy from Norfund.

“ElectriFI, an EU-funded access to energy impact facility, is thrilled to join such a strong group of investors backing visionary entrepreneurs who will positively impact thousands of local businesses in Nigeria,” said Dominiek Deconinck, ElectriFI Fund Manager.

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