Portuguese private equity firm Explorer Investments and Spanish advisory and investment firm Didendum EAF, both of which invest on behalf of high net-worth individuals and substantial family offices, have led a $3 million seed funding round for Sydney renewable energy technology company Okra Solar.
The round was also supported by Singapore-based SDGx Ventures – which has an office in Sydney, Schneider Electric Energy Access and the Autodesk Foundation. SDGx Ventures invests in line with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (UNSDG).
Okra Solar has developed hardware and software to enable efficient distribution of solar power to homes in off-grid communities. The technology is being used in in Nigeria, the Philippines, Haiti and Cambodia.
The funding will be used to scale up commercial operations and product development. In the near term, Okra plans to expand operations throughout Nigeria and Haiti.
Okra Solar chief executive Afnan Hannan said: “It feels great to lock in this funding so that we can accelerate our growth. We’re excited to continue charging towards providing energy access for the 770 million people living in off-grid communities. Our Mesh-Grids leverage IoT and automation to make last-mile electrification affordable and sustainable – even for the most remote villages on the planet. Our innovation has spurred global demand from utility companies.”
Okra Solar’s immediate focus is Nigeria where around 80 million people live in off-grid communities.
The company recently signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Nigerian social impact advisory firm SAO Group to scale up existing projects to serve an additional 290,000 homes over the next three years. This project would be the largest in the world to use decentralised grids to provide electricity to off-grid households.
Okra Solar is already seeking interest in a Series A investment round.
Image: Okra Solar’s technology enables solar power to be efficiently distributed to off-grid communities.