UK-based solar energy technology provider BBoxx closed a $20m series C round this week co-led by low-carbon utility Engie’s investment unit, Rassembleurs d’Energies.
The round was co-led by merchant bank MacKinnon, Bennett and Company (MKB) and private equity fund KawiSafi Ventures. Khosla Impact Fund, Bamboo Finance and Doen Foundation, a philanthropic outfit funded by three Dutch charity lotteries, also contributed capital.
Founded in 2010, BBoxx has created a distributed energy platform that uses solar energy to provide off-grid electricity to customers in the developing world. The company has delivered energy to 350,000 customers across 35 countries to date and is aiming to grow its client base to 20 million by 2020.
The cash to expand BBoxx’s presence in Kenya and Rwanda and to enter Cameroon, Ivory Coast and Nigeria.
BBoxx secured a total of $15m in equity and debt in December 2015 from Engie Rassembleurs d’Energies, energy utility Synergy Energy, MKB, Doen, Bamboo, Khosla and Ceniarth, with social investor Oikocredit providing $500,000 through a securitisation deal.
Bamboo and Doen supplied $3m in series B capital in March 2015, following a $1.9m funding round in 2013 involving Khosla and Synergy Growth.
Laure Vincotte, managing director of Engie Rassembleurs d’Energies, said: “We are excited about the growth potential for the African off-grid solar market and delighted with BBoxx’s rapid development.
“We feel that BBoxx’s technology is fully in line with Engie Rassembleurs d’Energies’ objectives of promoting sustainable and scalable energy solutions for all.”