Startups in Zambia don’t have field days raising funds, like their counterparts in Nigeria, South Africa or Kenya. WidEnergy appears, however, ready to break this jinx. The startup has secured an undisclosed amount of funding from the Germany-based GreenTec Capital to expand its operations.
A Look At WidEnergy
- WidEnergy is a woman-led for-profit social enterprise which is dedicated to female empowerment and the expansion of affordable energy access. It leverages an innovative pay-as-you-go (PAYG) model to provide solar-powered homes and appliances.
- The company’s name is an acronym for “Women in Development,” reflecting its goal of engaging women as active participants in Africa’s energy transition.
- WidEnergy works with 80 female sales agents to distribute renewable energy solutions across Zambia, focusing on core competencies in lending and distribution to develop a high-quality lending portfolio with minimized default risks.
- It has developed partnerships to be the Zambian distributor for d.light, Greenlight Planet, and Little Sun solar appliances and home systems, and expects to connect more than 1,250 households connected by next month.
- It has now secured funding from GreenTec Capital to assist it as it develops its approach and model. WidEnergy recently completed an integration with MTN-backed mobile-money payments into its platform.
- The investment is GreenTec’s seventh in Africa so far, and its second this year.
- The firm invested in Kenyan AI startup SuperFluid Labs in January and has also backed the likes of Nigerian logistics startup Parcel-it, Kenyan insurtech platform Bismart, Namibian CPU producer PEBL, and Kenyan recruitment platform Netwookie.
Charles Rapulu Udoh
Charles Rapulu Udoh is a Lagos-based Lawyer with special focus on Business Law, Intellectual Property Rights, Entertainment and Technology Law. He is also an award-winning writer. Working for notable organizations so far has exposed him to some of industry best practices in business, finance strategies, law, dispute resolution, and data analytics both in Nigeria and across the world.