BBOXX, a London headquartered solar company has raised $31 million in Private Equity from Africa Infrastructure Investment Managers (AIIM), which invested through its AIIF3 fund.
In return, the Private Equity investor will get a minority stake in BBOXX's operations in Rwanda, Kenya and DRC. According to BBOXX, this will allow them to "install two million solar systems by 2022, bringing electricity to 10 million people in these African countries."
"This investment will accelerate the roll-out of BBOXX’s solar systems which combine solar panels and batteries with pioneering technology, available on a pay-as-you-go basis via mobile money."
This AIIM investment is the latest in a string of deals that have seen BBOXX forge strategic partnerships across the industry, working with leading global electricity company EDF in Togo, world-leading telecommunications firm Orange in West Africa, as well as technological partners, investment institutions and local governments, to expand energy access at scale.
Last year, the company raised funding to the tune of $5.1 million through equity crowdfunding ($1.15M) and Debt Financing ($4M). The loan came from Togo-based bank Union Togolaise de Banque (UTB), and BBOXX used it to expand its products across the African country.
BBOXX says that it has so far brought electricity to 750,000 people in frontier markets, with substantial operations in countries including Rwanda, Kenya, Togo, the DRC, Nigeria and Pakistan.
"The funds will be applied across BBOXX’s distribution mix, positively impacting a range of customers including households, schools and SMEs across rural, urban and peri-urban regions. It will help in enabling economic growth in these communities by creating new markets through the entry point of electricity."
Founded in 2010 by Mansoor Hamayun, the company also won this year's Zayed Sustainability Prize in the Energy category which comes with a $600,000 prize. This latest round of funding, therefore, brings the company's total of funding raised - debt & awards included - to more than $100 million.
AIIM is a member of Old Mutual Alternative Investments with $2.1 billion in assets under management across the power, telecommunications and transport sectors and also has operations in 15 countries across East, West and Southern Africa. They have been investing in the African infrastructure sector since 2000 with a track record extending across seven African infrastructure funds.