A Nigerian utility firm, Arnergy, on Monday said it has raised $9 million in a Series A round of funding led by Breakthrough Energy Ventures and Norwegian Investment Fund for Developing Countries (Norfund), EDFI ElectriFI and Shells’ All On.
Founder and CEO of Arnergy, Femi Adeyemo, who spoke in Lagos, said there are about 60 million generators in the country used for powering homes and business with attendant health hazards.
He said the renewable energy solution will be deployed to 35,000 businesses and homes over the next 36 months begining from Lagos and Abuja, adding that it will expand to other parts of the country subsequently.
He said: “We are excited to enter this next phase in Arnergy’s development with investors that share our vision of tackling the most pressing energy challenges across emerging market economies, starting with Nigeria. 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.”
According to him, Arnergy’s distributed renewable energy systems harness the combination of solar power, superior storage solutions and proprietary remote management technologies to deliver scalable, reliable and affordable energy solutions that are tailored to tackle issues related to intermittency and grid unreliability. Since launch, Arnergy has delivered over 2 megawatts (Mw) of installed capacity and over 5MWh of storage capacity to business and residential clients across Nigeria.
He said the firm’s market scaling ambitions was fueled by the influx of new capital, stressing that this will include new business models and partnership opportunities, as well as consumer financing and channel expansion activities. Targeted verticals for the company’s 5KW modular systems will include small businesses, healthcare, hospitality, financial services, agribusiness and education.
Also speaking on the occasion, Carmichael Roberts of Breakthrough Energy Ventures, said Arnergy understands the West African market and its need for power reliability.
He said: “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.”
EVP Clean Energy from Norfund, Mark Davis, said 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,” he said.
ElectriFI Fund Manager, Dominiek Deconinck, said the 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.
Speaking on the investment, CEO of Shell funded All On, Wiebe Boer, said: “This is a deal that is particularly exciting to us at All On as a Nigerian impact investor because it reinforces our belief that local energy companies like Arnergy with innovative Nigerian technology and business models can attract investments from global giants like Breakthrough Energy Ventures, Norfund and ElectriFI, and are ready and able to compete on a global stage.”
According to Damilola Ogunbiyi, the CEO of the Rural Electrification Agency (REA), “I am delighted that Arnergy, a home grown 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.
