Mirova SunFunder and BioLite, a leading manufacturer of solar home systems (SHS), are pleased to announce an expansion of their partnership. The $5.3 million investment will provide debt financing for BioLite’s increased working capital requirements, a product of its rapid expansion in sub-Saharan Africa.
Having been partners since 2017, when Mirova SunFunder provided BioLite’s first emerging markets debt financing, today both companies are delighted to continue working together to expand clean energy solutions in emerging markets further.
“We are delighted to be partnering again with BioLite to support their continued growth in emerging markets. It is truly inspiring to work with an industry leader that strives to provide innovative and quality products in order to empower communities living off-grid and to accompany their journey to provide 20 million people with access to clean energy by 2025,” commented Nicole Kugelmass, who led the transaction for Mirova SunFunder.
“At BioLite we are excited to continue our partnership with Mirova SunFunder who believed in our vision early on. Access to this additional capital is vital to continuing BioLite’s growth and success in the off-grid solar market and helping us to achieve our goal of providing clean energy and combating climate change,” stated Robb Dahir, BioLite’s CFO.
BioLite is a leading manufacturer of solar-home systems (SHS), solar-powered appliances and cookstoves, distributed in over 20 developing countries in Sub-Saharan Africa. Its innovative designs, ranging from high quality and affordable portable lanterns to cooking products are in increasingly high demand. BioLite’s fully in-house developed products aim to provide life-changing solutions suitable for a lot of people with limited or no access to reliable energy, and unhealthy cooking environments.
Since its inception, BioLite has provided clean energy access to 3.6 million people in developed and developing countries, offsetting over 700k tonnes of CO2 equivalent and saving more than $175 million in end user fuel costs.
The $5.3 million investment, which involved partnering with the Facility of Energy Inclusion’s Off-Grid Energy Access Fund (FEI-OGEF) in a syndicate arranged by Lion’s Head Global Partners, naturally aligns with Mirova SunFunder’s mission to pioneer and scale clean energy access and climate solutions by investing in companies and projects dedicated to the renewable energy transition in underserved markets.