Nigerian energy startup, Arnergy, raises $9m in Series A financing

Arnergy, a Nigerian energy startup, says it has raised $9 million in a Series A round of funding led by Breakthrough Energy Ventures with participation from the Norwegian Investment Fund for Developing Countries (Norfund), EDFI, ElectriFI and All On.

Arnergy uses solar power, storage solutions and proprietary remote management technologies to deliver energy solutions to businesses and homes; tackling tackle issues related to grid unreliability.

Since launch, the company says it has delivered over 2MW of installed capacity and over 5MWh of storage capacity to business and residential clients across Nigeria.

“We are excited to enter this next phase in Arnergy’s development with investors that share our vision of tackling the most pressing energy challenges across emerging market economies, starting with Nigeria. We believe that energy needs in Nigeria have surpassed rudimentary requirements of low power utilization and our product offerings are solving for reliability and not just access,” said Femi Adeyemo, founder and CEO of Arnergy.

With the new capital, Adeyemo said the company will explore new business models and partnership opportunities, as well as consumer financing and channel expansion activities.

“Targeted verticals for the company’s 5KW modular systems will include small businesses, healthcare, hospitality, financial services, agribusiness and education.”

Commenting Damilola Ogunbiyi, the CEO of the Rural Electrification Agency (REA) said: “I am delighted that Arnergy, a homegrown company and one of the market leaders for off-grid energy in Nigeria has reached this milestone to raise capital from such an impressive group of local and international investors. It is a validation of all the hard work the REA and all of our partners are doing to create an enabling environment for off-grid development”.

In his remarks, Mark Davis, the executive vice president clean energy from Norfund, said the Norwegian government is proud to support the expansion of Arnergy which will provide Nigerian households and businesses on a weak-grid connection with a cheaper, cleaner and more reliable power solution.

Speaking on the investment, Wiebe Boer, CEO of Shell funded All On, “This is a deal that is particularly exciting to us at All On as a Nigerian impact investor because it reinforces our belief that local energy companies like Arnergy with innovative Nigerian technology and business models can attract investments from global giants like Breakthrough Energy Ventures, Norfund
and ElectriFI, and are ready and able to compete on a global stage.”