PRESS RELEASE
Energy Access Ventures announces three new investments
Investments in PayGo Energy, InspiraFarms and SunCulture double size of EAV portfolio
Paris, April 22, 2017 - Energy Access Ventures (EAV) is delighted to announce that it has
doubled its portfolio size with investments in PayGo Energy, InspiraFarms and SunCulture.
PayGo Energy is a distribution service that provides an affordable supply of clean cooking fuel
to homes in East Africa via pay-as-you-go technology. Paygo Energy’s mission is to unlock
clean energy for the next billion, by revolutionizing the distribution of cooking gas.
The Company provides an improved service system and innovative smart metering
technology that eliminates upfront costs and enables customers to access clean-burning LPG
on a pay-as-you-go basis. EAV invested alongside Novastar Ventures, Village Capital, Global
Innovation Fund and Global Partnerships/Eleos Social Venture Fund.
“EAV is delighted to be part of PayGo Energy's round. We are excited by the tremendous
potential the Company's technology has to significantly increase the uptake of LPG in the
home outside of wealthy, urban areas in Sub-Saharan Africa in a way that is highly impactful
and commercially promising. In addition, we were most impressed with the PayGo Energy
team who have consistently shown entrepreneurial drive coupled with a passion for making
a difference,” commented Dr Michael Gera, EAV’s Managing Partner.
InspiraFarms provides certified modular off-grid cold storage and food processing facilities
developed to solve the myriad social and economic problems associated with post-harvest
loss. This offers farmers the means to transform their dairy and horticultural operations and
reduce operating costs using renewable energy. InspiraFarms is expanding its operations and
extending financing for cold storage and food processing technology to small and growing
agribusinesses in East Africa, Central America and beyond. The other investors were Factor(E)
Ventures, PYMWYMIC, Monpelier Foundation and Doen Foundation.
“Our technology is a game changer for small-scale agribusinesses. With food-safe cold-chain
processing capabilities, a small-scale farming operation can not only stem post-harvest loss,
but also diversify its business and income, create jobs and get a foothold in the global supply
chain,” said InspiraFarms’ Technical Director, Dr. Michele Bruni.
"Schneider Electric is pleased to see the investment of Energy Access Ventures
into InspiraFarms, which provides reliable and innovative energy solutions to agribusinesses
in off-grid and unreliable grid areas. We believe this investment will strongly foster
productivity gains in agriculture value chains in Sub Saharan Africa and also deliver economic
and social benefits, namely for low income women. Schneider Electric looks forward to
working with InspiraFarms in the frame of our Access to Energy Program and the technical
assistance agreement with EAV in order to boost the company’s market strategy and its
impact outreach,” noted Gilles Vermot Desroches, Sustainability Senior Vice President,
Schneider Electric.
SunCulture designs and sells solar-powered irrigation kits, which make it simpler and cheaper
for smallholder farmers to grow high quality fresh fruits and vegetables, thus making them
more successful. The AgroSolar Irrigation Kit replaces expensive diesel and petrol pumps with
a more efficient solar-powered solution. In addition to industry-leading solar-powered
irrigation systems, SunCulture trains technicians and agronomists to provide on-farm training,
soil analysis and agronomy support through a mobile platform. Switching to SunCulture’s
solution increases a farmer’s yields by up to 300% and decreases water usage by up to 80%.
The new funding will be used to expand SunCulture’s operations in Kenya as well as to release
further affordable products onto the market. EAV co-invested with Partners Group in
Switzerland and Angel Investors.
Paras Patel, Investment Manager at EAV said, “60% of all uncultivated arable land in the world
is in Africa. African farms yield just 50% of the global average - due mainly to lack of access to
modern know-how. Technologies and business models like SunCulture’s are likely to prove
transformative.”
About Energy Access Ventures
EAV (www.eavafrica.com) is the first venture firm that focuses on investing in the growing
number of dynamic and innovative companies that are taking on the challenge of energy
access in Africa. With a team that has substantial investment and operating experience, and
backers from industry and development finance, the firm brings a unique, hands-on approach
to its portfolio companies that will ensure it has a transformative impact in its target markets.
The fund is sponsored by the leading French multinational Schneider Electric. Its investors are
CDC Group (UK), managing funds for the UK Department for International Development, the
European Investment Bank, the Fonds d'Investissement et de Soutien aux Entreprises en
Afrique (FISEA) held by Agence Française de Développement (AFD) and managed by Proparco,
the Fonds Français pour l'Environnement Mondial (FFEM), administered by AFD, the OPEC
Fund for International Development (OFID) and Schneider Electric.