Sun King, the largest off-grid energy company in Africa and Asia, has acquired PayGo Energy, a leading innovator in pay-as-you-go technology for clean cooking. Drawing on its experience delivering solar energy products to 95 million underserved consumers in Africa and Asia, Sun King will use this acquisition to develop clean cooking solutions for the three billion people reliant on wood and charcoal cookstoves.

Sun King’s new Clean Cooking Team is working on a range of clean cooking products and services to help families transition from wood- and charcoal-based cooking to clean, safe and more environmentally friendly alternatives. The breadth of clean cooking product range reflects customers’ diverse cooking practices and available energy supplies. The company will take a technology-agnostic approach to developing products and services that allow families to transition from wood and charcoal cookstoves to safer, modern appliances that better protect people and the planet.

Access to finance is a major barrier to clean cooking for hundreds of millions of households. Sun King’s Clean Cooking Team is developing technology-enabled products and pay-as-you-go consumer financing services to break down financial barriers to purchasing modern cooking equipment.

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Founded in 2015, PayGo Energy’s team of 40 employees in Nairobi is moving less than a mile down the road to Sun King’s office, now expanded to include a lab and workspace for Sun King’s new Clean Cooking Team. The PayGo Energy team brings a wealth of experience pioneering finance, technology and distribution solutions to clean cooking challenges. In areas without access to electricity or piped gas, PayGo Energy has developed smart meters to monitor LPG consumption and predict when gas cylinders will run empty. This technology allows customers to pay incrementally for fuel — as they would for charcoal or wood — and enables proactive replacement of customers’ gas cylinders before they run out of fuel.

“The benefits of switching to clean cooking — using modern stoves and fuels — are both substantial and diverse, ranging from reductions in carbon emissions and unsustainable deforestation to improved health and gender outcomes. Globally, three billion people depend on open wood fires and charcoal stoves to cook food. The resulting smoke and respiratory disease are leading causes of early death in Africa and Asia, disproportionately impacting women who are more exposed to the fumes. Women also bear the time burden of collecting wood and tending fires. Cooking with wood and charcoal is a major contributor to global warming, accounting for approximately 2% of global carbon emissions, on par with the carbon emissions of the entire global air travel industry. Demand for wood and charcoal drives deforestation and destroys biodiversity,” said Nick Quintong, CEO of PayGo Energy and now head of Sun King’s Clean Cooking Team.

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“We are thrilled to welcome the PayGo Energy team into the Sun King fold. By merging PayGo’s clean cooking product and software expertise with Sun King’s hardware and manufacturing know-how and our proven distribution channels, underpinned by Sun King’s 23,000 field agents, we hope to deliver modern, affordable cooking appliances and energy to families living across Africa and Asia,” said T. Patrick Walsh, Co-Founder and CEO of Sun King.

Recently, Sun King raised $330 million (USD) through its Series-D funding round. Sun King is rapidly expanding its pay-as-you-go solar product line and distribution network, introducing more powerful off-grid solar technology and expanding its presence to additional African countries. Sun King’s new Clean Cooking Team and its acquisition of PayGo Energy is another step towards the company’s mission to provide sustainable, affordable energy to underserved communities in Africa and Asia.

Here are key strategic reasons for Sun King’s acquisition of PayGo Energy to develop clean cooking solutions

1. Expanding its product range: Sun King, the largest off-grid energy company in Africa and Asia, seeks to expand its product range beyond solar energy products to include clean cooking solutions. This move will help the company to tap into a new market segment and diversify its revenue streams.
   
2. Addressing the “Dirty Cooking Problem”: Sun King’s acquisition of PayGo Energy is part of its broader ambition to address the “Dirty Cooking Problem.” Globally, three billion people depend on open wood fires and charcoal stoves to cook food, leading to health problems and environmental issues. By developing clean cooking solutions, Sun King aims to make a positive impact on people’s health and the planet.
   
3. Access to new technology and expertise: PayGo Energy is a leading innovator in pay-as-you-go technology for clean cooking. By acquiring PayGo Energy, Sun King gains access to new technology and expertise that can be used to develop and improve its clean cooking products and services.
   
4. Developing consumer financing services: Sun King’s acquisition of PayGo Energy will enable it to offer consumer financing services to African and Asian customers. These services will allow families to pay for energy and equipment in small, affordable installments, breaking down financial barriers to purchasing modern cooking equipment.

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