The funding round was co-led by existing investors CRE Venture Capital and the Omidyar Network, with participation from Inspired Evolution, Proparco, EDPR, I&P, Sin Capital, and Yuzura Honda.
According to Adesina, “simultaneously greening and decentralizing its power infrastructure is the only way to navigate Nigeria out of its current state of energy poverty.
“Pursuing this with a focus on the millions of small-businesses that drive our economy creates a massive multiplier effect whose benefit accrues to all.”
He goes on to add, “Our push into O2O is a natural step that leverages our existing infrastructure to further empower the merchants we serve. We aim to bring connect over one-million merchants in the next 5 years.
Rensource, the energy start-up, said it will use the funds to expand the company’s footprint of macro utilities across Nigeria, as well as invest in additional technology infrastructure.
Nigeria, Africa’s most populous country, only has 12 gigawatts of installed grid capacity, with just one-in-four Nigerians connected to the national power grid. In contrast, South Africa has 50 gigawatts.
Launched in 2016, Rensource is bridging Nigeria’s power deficit through the delivery of renewable-based decentralized energy, focusing primarily on SMEs. In 2018, it also secured a $650,000 loan to provide at least 4,000 shops with access to electricity.
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Pardon Makumbe, Co-founder and Managing Partner of CRE Venture Capital, said, “Rensource’s goal is to offer solutions to the many challenges faced by SMEs in Nigeria, starting with power and expanding to other value-added services. It is a bold and worthwhile undertaking that is creating value for all stakeholders. We are excited to continue this journey with the hyper-competent team at the helm”
Currently operating in seven clusters across six states in Nigeria (Lagos, Kano, Ogun, Ondo, Oyo, and Edo), the company intends to expand its offering beyond energy and entering Nigeria’s nascent offline to online (O2O) space, by offering tech-enabled services to small and medium scale enterprises in the marketplaces.
Source – https://www.pulse.ng/
