Off-Grid Solar Company BBOXX Closes $20 Million Investment

Off-grid solar company BBOXX announced in late August that it had successfully closed a $20 million Series C investment.

BBOXX is a leading off-grid solar company, which designs, manufactures, distributes, and finances plug & play solar systems which provide access to energy across Africa and the developing world where traditional electricity generation methods might be untenable, or simply not yet exist. BBOXX has already sold more than 70,000 products across 35 countries, servicing at least 350,000 people. BBOXX is known for pioneering a distributed energy platform consisting of data-driven technology and a solar home system designed to deliver off-grid energy on a utility scale.

Announced in late August, BBOXX revealed that it had successfully closed a $20 million Series C investment round, supported by co-investors MacKinnon, Bennett & Company (MKB), ENGIE Rassembleurs d’Energies, and KawiSafi Ventures, as well as existing investors Khosla Impact Fund, Bamboo Finance, and DOEN Foundation. The investment is intended to support expanding BBOXX’s presence in the existing markets of Kenya and Rwanda, as well as to accelerate the provision of licensed BBOXX products and services in other markets — including the creation of three franchises in the West African countries of Cameroon, Côte d’Ivoire, and Nigeria.

“We have built an innovative, data-powered technology platform for the next generation of distributed utility companies,” said CEO Mansoor Hamayun.

“We are thrilled to have ENGIE Rassembleurs d’Energies, KawiSafi Ventures, and MKB as our lead investors — it will bring credibility to our industry and much needed scale. We are already deploying systems at the fastest rate in East Africa, at 10 kWp of solar per day, and I am excited that we will continue to grow quickly over the next few years.”

“We are excited about the growth potential for the African off-grid solar market and delighted with BBOXX’s rapid development,” said Laure Vincotte, Managing Director of ENGIE Rassembleurs d’Energies. “We feel that BBOXX’s technology is fully in line with ENGIE Rassembleurs d’Energies’ objectives of promoting sustainable and scalable energy solutions for all.”

“BBOXX is building the next generation of energy services — connected, distributed, renewable and focused on customer service. We see a strong opportunity for BBOXX’s licensed products and services to act as a foundation for a rapidly growing new sector in the global utility market,” added Patrick Bennett, VP at MKB.