All On, a Shell-backed impact investment firm, has announced a $2 million investment in fintech firm Infibranches Technologies Limited to help close the energy distribution gap in Nigeria ’s underserved rural and peri-urban areas.
Infibranches CEO Olusola Owoyemi expressed his excitement about the deal’s ability to bridge the gap by seamlessly integrating consumers and service providers, demonstrating the linked nature of financial inclusion and poverty reduction.
“Through this investment, Infibranches plans to speed up customer acquisition in its current markets. This will also improve existing products like Omnibranches, which has served over a million customers, and introduce new products and services to address energy distribution issues”, Owoyemi noted.
All On’s investment will catalyze Infibranches’ next phase of growth by funding inventory and agent acquisition, product and technology development, and working capital for business operations, all in support of the company’s distribution of Solar Home Systems for households and commercial users across Nigeria, with a particular focus in the Niger Delta.
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Why The Investors Invested
“We are particularly thrilled about this deal because it’s an innovative business model that solves the payments and collections problems that Solar Home System distributors and minigrid developers face across Nigeria,” said Dr. Wiebe Boer, All On CEO. “This partnership merges fintech and renewables in a way we haven’t seen in Nigeria before and will enable tens of thousands of new electricity connections.”
The Nigerian Off-Grid Market Acceleration Programme, a non-profit initiative backed by the Shell Foundation in the United Kingdom, USAID, and UK aid, has helped Infibranches develop a single payment integration solution for the Nigerian SHS sector that helps facilitate payment collection through a network of agents across the payment value chain, including banks and mobile money agents.
Shell Foundation CEO Sam Parker said, “The initiative’s work with Infibranches has shown how important it is to continue addressing market barriers, enabling enterprises to more quickly expand their life changing energy solutions to households and SMEs across Nigeria.”
A Look At What The Startup Does
Infibranches Technologies Limited, founded in 2019 by Olusola Owoyemi, is a wholly owned Nigerian fintech company fostering access and rapidly accelerating financial inclusion and electrification across Sub-Saharan Africa, according to the company. The startup claims to be the only company in the fintech space to have built a secure platform that serves as a single point of integration for payments and other financial services.
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Agent banking businesses can use the platform to deliver services including cash payments and withdrawals, money transfers, utility payments, and telco payments, to mention a few.
Charles Rapulu Udoh
Charles Rapulu Udoh is a Lagos-based lawyer who has advised startups across Africa on issues such as startup funding (Venture Capital, Debt financing, private equity, angel investing etc), taxation, strategies, etc. He also has special focus on the protection of business or brands’ intellectual property rights ( such as trademark, patent or design) across Africa and other foreign jurisdictions.
He is well versed on issues of ESG (sustainability), media and entertainment law, corporate finance and governance.
He is also an award-winning writer