UAE-Based Solar Energy Start-Up Pawame Secures $2.5m and Launches $5m Series A Round
With a team of 80 employees and over 200 contract agents and technicians, Pawame plans to provide electricity to over 1 million people in sub-Saharan Africa that do not have access to grid power by 2025
Pawame plans to provide electricity to over 1 million people in sub-Saharan Africa that do not have access to grid power by 2025
UAE-based off-grid solar start-up Pawame has secured $2.5 million in funding and is set to launch a $5m Series A round as the company plots expansion in Africa.
Pawame, which employs a pay-as-you-go business model and uses mobile-money to make solar affordable, received five grants totalling $1.7m, plus $750,000 in equity, including $250,000 from Launch Africa VC.
Alexandre Allegue, chairman and co-founder, said: “I am extremely proud of this announcement, as despite facing challenges during the pandemic, Pawame delivered exceptional results in 2020, including achieving bottom-line profitability and positive cash flow for the first time.
We accomplished this thanks to our unique and sustainable value proposition, alongside a cost-effective execution and an exceptional team.”
Pawame offers a portfolio of innovative, high-quality solar home systems in remote areas of Kenya on a micro-financed basis, using mobile money repayment, making it affordable for everyone to access safe, clean and reliable energy.
The business model also uses energy as a bridge to help families build a credit history and then gain access to other life-changing products through Pawame, which they would otherwise be unable to access or afford.
Grants and funding were received from all over the world, including the Netherlands and Kenya.
With a team of 80 employees and over 200 contract agents and technicians, Pawame plans to provide electricity to over 1 million people in sub-Saharan Africa that do not have access to grid power by 2025.
The start-up is also planning to extend its product range to other life enhancing products, including income generating appliances such as water tanks, solar water pumps and solar refrigerators, which will empower many families in rural areas to start their own business, and enable farmers to extend the life of their crops.
Maurice Parets, CEO of Pawame, said: “Energy is just the beginning, supplanting dirty kerosene lamps, our solar products help protect as well as change the lives of off-grid families.”
Pawame is on target for its geographic expansion within and beyond Kenya, with the series A fundraising set to further accelerate its growth. Its current investors are primarily GCC based, with its largest shareholder being senior executives from the largest power utility companies of the Middle East as well as Launch Africa VC.
Source: arabianbusiness
