Lead-acid energy storage system firm BBOXX has closed a $20 million Series C investment to increase its share in the African micro-grid market.
The UK company’s ESS connects a 12V lead-acid battery with a battery management system and a solar panel to deliver off-grid energy at a utility scale.
The cash will help the company expand operations in Kenya and Rwanda, where it already owns and operates retail distribution networks and after sales service centres.
BBOXX, which is building its operational headquarters in Kigali, Rwanda, is also aiming to electrify more than 20% of the country’s population with off-grid solar systems.
The company also plans to create three further franchises in the West African countries of Cameroon, Ivory Coast and Nigeria.
This latest round of investment is supported by co-investors MacKinnon, Bennett & Company (MKB), ENGIE Rassembleurs d’Energies (which provides technical and financial support to projects) and KawiSafi Ventures (private equity fund focused on the off-grid energy sector in East Africa), as well as existing investors Khosla Impact Fund, Bamboo Finance and DOEN Foundation.
