We are thrilled to announce that we have secured a $3 million (~ ZAR 50 million) investment from ARCH Emerging Markets Partners’ Africa Renewable Power Fund (ARPF), marking the close of our $4 million (~ ZAR 67 million) Series-A funding round.
With our shared passion for driving renewable energy proliferation and sustainability across Africa, ARCH is the perfect partner for Sun Exchange as we scale our solution, and we are delighted to have them on board.
The close of this funding round and the investment from ARCH will unlock the next phase of growth for Sun Exchange, enabling us to expand our work solar powering schools, clinics, farms, cell towers, water plants, businesses and other organisations across Sub-Saharan Africa. As a result, we will provide Sun Exchange members exciting opportunities to further diversity their solar cell portfolios across regions and industries.
Additionally, we will bolster Sun Exchange marketing activities to substantially grow our membership base, and make significant software enhancements to extend the capabilities and features of our online platform. This also means we’ll continue building our team, creating several new, sustainable, clean energy jobs.
Here is what William Barry, Managing Director of ARCH, had to say about the investment: “Sun Exchange is positioned to emerge as an enabling force in the imminent global energy and economic transformation, with a first-of-a-kind platform that harnesses the power of a united global community to unlock the potential of distributed solar power in emerging markets. We are thrilled to partner with Sun Exchange on this journey to expand the success the company has already seen in South Africa throughout ARPF’s target markets in sub-Saharan Africa.”
Abe Cambridge, CEO & Founder of Sun Exchange, noted, “There has never been a more critical time to accelerate the Sun Exchange mission of connecting the entire world to the sun, as socio-economic and energy systems across the world are on the brink of being reset and redefined.”
Adam Draper, Co-Founder and Managing Director, Boost VC, an early Sun Exchange investor, stated, “amidst the unprecedented health and financial hardships currently impacting the entire world, we’ve seen an undeniable slowdown in VC deals. This successful raise speaks volumes of the ingenuity and resilience of the Sun Exchange business model.”
Last year, Sun Exchange more than doubled the size of our community, now standing at more than 17,000 members from 162 countries. Additionally, our project portfolio nearly tripled in size, and we are now facilitating solar power for 31 schools, businesses and organisations across South Africa. We look forward to building on our success and reputation as a leading technology and solar finance innovator across Africa.
If you have any questions or comments regarding this announcement, please don’t hesitate to get in touch!
