MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: SunCulture of Kenya Receives $11m Line of Credit for Solar Irrigation of Farms in Africa from SunFunder, AfDB, AlphaMundi, NDF, Triodos Investment Management

Kenyan solar-irrigation company SunCulture recently received a credit facility of USD 11 million organized and led by SunFunder, a lender to solar energy projects in sub-Saharan Africa. The other participating funders are the African Development Bank’s (AfDB’s) Energy Inclusion Facility, Switzerland-based AlphaMundi, the Nordic Development Fund (NDF) and the Netherlands’ Triodos Investment Management. NDF is an institution of the governments of Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden. The terms of the loan to SunCulture have not been released.

SunCulture utilizes solar technology “to provide customers with reliable access to water, irrigation, lighting and mobile charging.” Its products, such as solar pumps, lights and drip irrigation systems, are used by both farmers and non-farming households in Côte d’Ivoire, Ethiopia, Kenya, Senegal, Togo, Uganda and Zambia. The firm offers pay-as-you-go options for products such as ClimateSmart Direct, a solar irrigation pump costing KSH 4,599 (USD 42) per month. SunCulture has raised a total of USD 25 million over four rounds of funding.

Founded in 2012, SunFunder has offices in Kenya, the UK and the US. The firm invests in 21 countries, including via the Solar Energy Transformation Fund, which has a volume of USD 70 million and a maturity date of 2028. Its funds that have matured are the Kenya Off-Grid Solar Access Project, which had a volume of USD 30 million, and the Beyond the Grid Solar Fund, which had a volume of USD 47 million.

By Tejas Gumudavelly, Research Associate

Sources and Additional Resources

Business Insider Africa press release
https://africa.businessinsider.com/local/markets/kenyan-energy-startup-sunculture-obtains-dollar11-million-for-its-solar-powered/mvrgxmj

SunCulture homepage
https://sunculture.com/

SunCulture financials
https://www.crunchbase.com/organization/sunculture-2/company_financials

SunFunder homepage
https://www.sunfunder.com/

AfDB homepage
https://www.afdb.org/en

AlphaMundi homepage
https://www.alphamundi.ch/

NDF homepage
https://www.ndf.fi/

Triodos Investment Management homepage
https://www.triodos-im.com/

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