Mirova has announced the purchase of SunFunder, a private debt management company that supports renewable energy projects in Africa and Asia, which accelerates its mission to become a global leader in impact investing.
“We couldn’t imagine a better partner to join forces with than Mirova, a company with a mission and strong culture of impact that we share. We’ve heard a lot of talk about ESG1 investment, but there are very few companies like Mirova and SunFunder leading the pack with 100% truly sustainable investments. Together we become the leading clean energy and climate investor in emerging markets, through bold new investments with real impact,” Audrey Desirato and Ryan Levinson, Co-founders of SunFunder said.
With the acquisition, the entire SunFunder team will be retained in order to continue developing their high impact energy transition work and to build a bigger emerging markets platform committed to clean energy and climate investments with Mirova.
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Why The Acquisition
According to Mirova, SunFunder’s business objectives fit Mirova’s goal of being a global leader in energy transition financing, and it enhances its debt financing experience and in-depth knowledge of emerging countries. Mirova, a pioneer in impact investing in Europe through its investment strategies in energy transition infrastructure, private equity, social impact investing, and listed stocks, is thereby increasing its commitments in emerging markets, where it already has a presence in natural capital.
“In order to thoroughly address the challenges that come with the fight against global warming and social inequalities, having a local presence in emerging countries is critical. We are delighted that SunFunder’s teams, with their proven experience and expertise, are joining us. Together, we will pursue our efforts to meet the needs of the real economy and increase the impact of our investments,” said Philippe Zaouati, CEO of Mirova.
Mirova will control 100 percent of SunFunder after the transaction is completed, and its teams and expertise will boost its local investment and execution capabilities for its private assets strategies. Mirova is thus creating an emerging countries investment platform, into which the Singapore office will be integrated in 2021.
Mirova is a Natixis Investment Managers affiliate committed to impact investment, with a primary goal of financing the environmental and energy transition.
The first goal of Mirova and SunFunder is to develop a solar energy debt financing vehicle with a $500 million investment capacity dispersed over Africa, Asia, and Latin America. The first closing could occur before the end of the year2.
As of March 31, 2022, Mirova and its subsidiaries managed €27 billion in assets, including €2.2 billion in energy transition infrastructure and €500 million in natural capital.
A Look At What SunFunder Does
SunFunder was founded ten years ago as a crowdfunding platform with the primary goal of providing finance solutions for Africa’s decentralised solar energy sector in order to create direct impact at the nexus of climate change and inequality. Since then, the company has launched a number of innovative blended finance investment vehicles and closed over $165 million in investments in 58 companies deploying clean energy primarily in Africa and Asia, including off-grid solar home systems in Malawi, village mini-grid projects in Kenya, and commercial and industrial rooftop installations in Nigeria and Thailand.
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SunFunder has helped more than ten million people gain access to solar energy, primarily in East and West Africa, before expanding its expertise to other growing markets, including Southeast Asia.
SunFunder boasts an experienced and diverse workforce of 38 employees from 16 different nationalities, with 55 percent of them being women and 45 percent being African, based mostly in Nairobi, Paris, and London.
SunFunder had previously invested in African renewable energy startups such as PEG Africa, d.Light, PAYG, SolarNow, SunCulture, as well as Daystar Power.
Charles Rapulu Udoh
Charles Rapulu Udoh is a Lagos-based lawyer, who has several years of experience working in Africa’s burgeoning tech startup industry. He has closed multi-million dollar deals bordering on venture capital, private equity, intellectual property (trademark, patent or design, etc.), mergers and acquisitions, in countries such as in the Delaware, New York, UK, Singapore, British Virgin Islands, South Africa, Nigeria etc. He’s also a corporate governance and cross-border data privacy and tax expert.
As an award-winning writer and researcher, he is passionate about telling the African startup story, and is one of the continent’s pioneers in this regard. You can book a session and speak with him using the link: https://insightsbyexperts.com/view_expert/charles-rapulu-udoh