UAE's solar powered energy start-up Pawame secures $2.5m in funding

UAE-based off-grid solar energy start-up Pawame secured $2.5 million in grants and equity, with packages for a $5m early stage funding round since it bids to deliver electricity into more households in Africa.

The social impact enterprise (pronounced Power Me personally) raised $1.7m in grant commitments and $750,000 in equity, including $250,000 from pan-African fund Start Africa Ventures, it said on a statement in Sunday.

The planned $5m Series A good round will fund its expansion initially into Kenya and finally other African countries as it equips homes in remote control areas with affordable and clean solar technology, Pawame's leader Maurice Parets said.

"Energy is just the start. Supplanting dirty kerosene lamps, our solar products support protect and also change the lives of off-grid households," Mr Parets stated. "The funds from our Series A collateral round allows us to accelerate our progress by delivering a broader selection of life-changing products to extra families."

International organisations like the World Lender have urged governments all over the world to build more sustainable and equitable economies following the Covid-19 pandemic highlighted existing inequalities. Climate transformation activists also have ramped up the pressure on policymakers, regulators, companies and banks to accelerate the changeover towards a low-carbon economy.

Pawame aims to bring electric power to the homes of 580 million people in sub-Saharan Africa, or even more than 50 % of the region's populace, that don't have access to electric power. The company distributes, finances and after-sales support for residential solar home systems utilizing a rent-to-own, pay-as-you-go business model.

"Despite facing challenges during the pandemic, Pawame delivered remarkable results found in 2020, including obtaining bottom-line profitability and positive cashflow for the very first time," Alexandre Allegue, chairman and co-founder of Pawame, said without providing figures.

Pawame said it is "on target" because of its growth within and beyond Kenya, with the Series A fund raising place to help expand accelerate its growth.

The five grants worth $1.7m originated from entities like the Netherlands Enterprise Firm, Energy and Environment Partnership, the Dutch expansion organisation SNV, AECF REACT Kenya and the flagship Community Bank-funded Kenya Off-Grid Solar Gain access to Project (KOSAP), the company said.

The grants will accelerate Pawame's product advancement pipeline - funding pilots for services like solar water pumps and solar refrigerators - and financing marketplace activation initiatives in Kakuma and Kalobeyei refugee camps in Kenya.

Pawame's current shareholders are mainly based in the Gulf you need to include senior executives from the region's major power utility companies and also Launch Africa Ventures, it said.

“Our thesis for investing into Pawame is easy: without electricity or connectivity, folks are excluded from the exponential development that an increasingly digital world has to offer," Baljinder Sharma, director at Release Africa Ventures, said.