Azuri Technologies Ltd. is a startup set on powering homes in sub-Saharan Africa using green energy from the Sun. The company has just raised $5 million debt financing from the Standard Chartered Bank to support scaling up of its operations across sub-Saharan Africa.
The raised funds will go towards settling bills from the manufacturer of Azuri’s PayGo solar home kits. It is estimated that about 600 million people in sub-Saharan Africa live without national grid power connection.
“As the PayGo industry matures, access to innovative debt finance mechanisms becomes an increasingly important part of being able to deliver continued market growth,” said Simon Bransfield-Garth, the CEO of Azuri. “We are delighted to have partnered with Standard Chartered Bank to deliver this innovative facility.”
Access to credit, is increasingly being seen as one of the key enablers of market growth. While Azuri products are being consumed on a pay-as-you-go basis, the company is able to operate with less working capital yet get their manufacturer paid for stocks before they are distributed to consumers. Access to debt financing, has made operation easier for Azuri. Since without it, the company would require huge working capital to operate.
Azuri was launched back in 2011, and to date. It has sold over 90,000 solar home systems reaching close to half a million people.
