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funding gap emerging markets
Kenya

Azuri Technologies

  • Azuri
  • Invest in a business
  • + 290 other investors
  • With a loan of EUR 130,000 Azuri is able to manufacture and distribute 1,300 solar home systems to families in Kenya.

    €130,000
    Amount
    6.00%
    Interest
    24 months
    Maturity
    6 months
    Repayments
    EUR
    Currency
    Amount€130,000
    Interest6.00%
    Maturity24 months
    Repayments6 months
    CurrencyEUR
      100%
      Fully funded in 8 days on 23 January 2018.

      Summary

      IMPORTANT NOTE: high risk product - direct loan to solar power product distribution company. No local partner in between to cover risks.  ​​​​​

      Basic Information:

      • Issuer: Azuri SSPV 1 Ltd.
      • Currency: EURO
      • Amount: 130,000 (senior debt)
      • Maturity: 24 months, semi-anually and linearly amortizing
      • Collateral: N.A.
      • Interest rate: 6% p.a.

      Non-recall period: N.A. issuer is allowed to repay the loan early at all times against a 2% penalty fee on the amount prepaid. In case the company sells more than 50% of its shares, no penalty fee will apply if prepayment occures. 

      Direct loan

      This is a direct loan to a company (rather than lending to a financial institution) and therefore it is recommendable that you are careful with the amount you will invest.  

      Available documents

      The project

      Every EUR 100 invested will allow Azuri to make a solar home system available to a rural family in Kenya that would otherwise be out of their financial reach. Azuri's PayGo service model enables customers to pay back the cost of the system over time (typically 18 or 24 months) after which they fully own the system and can continue to use it for free.

      The Quad system (a Lighting Africa quality assured product) includes a 10W solar panel, a rechargeable battery, 4 powerful LED lights, a rechargeable torch and radio, and a USB port to recharge a mobile phone.

      Azuri aims to raise EUR 130,000 of investment, enabling them to manufacture and distribute at least 1,300 Quad systems together with their local distribution partners.

      Azuri also aims to recycle capital repaid during the 24 month loan period to procure additional Quad systems to further maximise impact.

      Summary

      A spinout from Cambridge University, Azuri Technologies is an innovative commercial provider of pay-as- you-go (“PayGo”) solar home systems to rural off-grid households. The company has one of the widest geographical reach of any solar-as- a-service offering in Sub Saharan Africa, and addresses the problem of energy access that affects over 600 million people who lack access to the grid across the continent.

      See an item with Azuri on BBC news

      Azuri has combined solar and mobile technology to allow customers to access power on a PayGo basis, providing affordable, clean and safe renewable energy for as little as half the cost of the fossil fuels being replaced. As a pioneer of PayGo solar power when it first entered the Kenyan market in 2012, Azuri has since expanded its reach to 12 African countries, and has sold over 100,000 systems to-date, which are expected to impact more than half a million people.

      We are aiming to raise working capital loans to invest alongside Azuri, which will allow us to manufacture and deliver solar home systems to our local in-country distribution partners, including Azuri subsidiaries, more efficiently and faster. The loan will be repaid in 4 semi-annual instalments over a 24-month period from the sales receipts of these systems. These systems are expected to improve energy access for thousands of people across Sub Saharan Africa where more than 600 million persons do not benefit from grid electricity.

      Impact

      Solar home systems, such as the Quad system, have been shown to have a significant impact on customers and the environment. This has been confirmed by Azuri’s own research over the years. To-date, Azuri has sold more than 100,000 across Africa, benefiting approximately half a million lives (assuming an average household size of 5 persons).

      • ‘My air quality has improved’ (96%)
      • “My family’s previous kerosene-related health issues have reduced” (98%)
      • “I feel safer” (93%)
      • “My children can study more” (97%)
      • “The money I save on kerosene, batteries, and candles I mainly use for my children’s education” (37%)
      • “I have more evening home visits from family and friends” (68%)
      • “I save significant time on fetching fuel and getting my phone charged”
      • “I can spend more time working”

      Using industry-recognised Global Off-Grid Lighting Association (GOGLA) impact metrics, Azuri has calculated the social and environmental impact of installing one of its Quad systems in a household as follows:

      • Average number of people benefiting from improved energy access = 5
      • Average household change in additional available hours of light = 4 hours
      • Average household savings on energy over solar product lifetime = USD 200
      • CO2 gas emissions offset per unit over product lifetime = 1.2 tonnes

      Management team

      Alan Harper (Chairman of the board) - Alan is a leading figure in the mobile network industry with particular involvement in African markets. Alan is a Non-Executive director at MTN, Africa’s largest telecoms provider. In 2008 Alan co-founded ‘Eaton Towers’ a leading independent telecom provider in Africa, with the most diversified geographical tower portfolio, installing over 5,000 telecom towers cross seven African countries.

      Simon Bransfield-Garth (CEO) - Simon has 25 years’ global experience building rapid growth, technology based businesses in sectors including Semiconductor, Automotive and Mobile Phones including 7 years at Symbian, where he was a member of the Leadership Team and VP Global Marketing. Simon was founder of Myriad Solutions Ltd and was previously a Fellow at Cambridge University where he also received his BA and PhD in Engineering.

      Snehar Shah (GM East Africa) - Snehar was most recently CFO Eaton Towers operations in East Africa. Previously he headed the Mobile Money Business unit or mobile operator Orange in Kenya, where he was responsible for the growth of the consumer service within the Kenyan market. Snehar has a first-class degree from Imperial College, London and was selected for the “Top 40 Under 40” in Kenya by Business Daily in 2012.

      Vera Nwanze (GM East Africa) - Vera brings over 20 years commercial expertise, primarily in Multinational Pharmaceutical Companies (Novartis, GSK and Cipla-Evans) holding increasing positions in General Management, Regulatory Affairs, Clinical Research, Quality Assurance, Sales and Marketing across major Sub-Saharan Africa countries.

      Nigel Preston (VP Product Management) - Nigel has 25 years’ global experience of embedded electronic systems development and manufacture. Previous positions include European Director of Engineering at Motorola Inc’s Automotive business and COO International Operations for Pi Shurlok. He holds a B.Eng. and Ph.D in Electronic Engineering from the University of Liverpool.

      Paul Foster (VP Market Development) - Paul brings over 15 years’ experience of go-to-market activities in developing countries and spent much of his career with the Western Union Company where he had overall responsibility for growing the brand across Africa and supported its extensive network of local distribution partners. Most recently he was Global Chief Marketing Officer of Western Union Business Solutions. He holds a B.A Degree in Modern History form the University of Oxford.

      Liam Hickey (CFO) - Liam has significant experience in the establishment of new enterprises and the restructuring of established businesses to expand their global reach and make them more profitable, primarily within emerging markets. In addition to stints working in venture capital in East and West Africa, Liam has held senior commercial and operational finance positions in many multinational companies including Bertelsmann, Ericsson and Digicel.

      Awards:

      • Edison Awards 2017 - Gold Award Winner 
      • GCCA 2016 - #1 International Cleantech Company
      • Solar + Power awards 2016 - Rural Electrification Development Award
      Company nameAzuri Technologies
      CEOSimon Bransfield-Garth
      Founded2012-01-01
      LocationNairobi
      SectorSustainable energy projects
      Turnover€1,001,346.50
      Employees50

      Impact

      There is currently no information available for this section. Check the Summary tab for more details.

      • With this investment 5 jobs are created
      • With this investment 6500 lives are improved
      • With this investment 1300 solar home systems are installed
      • With this investment 1560 tons of CO2 are reduced

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      We have already contributed to Azuri Technologies

      Juul Slot
      Bastiaan Kommers
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      290
      investors