- Husk Power has announced the largest-ever financing in the minigrid industry, $100 million in equity and debt.
- Two-thirds of the capital will go toward Sub-Saharan Africa, with an initial focus on Nigeria with 1000 mini-grids.
- 500 minigrids are also planned for the Democratic Republic of Congo and 250 each in four additional countries in Africa.
Husk Power Systems (“Husk”) announced today that it has closed $43 million in Series D funding, the largest-ever equity raise in the minigrid industry. The equity funding includes new investors STOA Infra & Energy, the US International Development Finance Corporation (DFC) and Proparco, as well as existing investors Shell Ventures, Swedfund and FMO.
In addition, Husk has leveraged the Series D equity to secure an additional $60 million in debt from several finance institutions, including the European Investment Bank (EIB), and the International Finance Corporation. (IFC).
Over the next 5 years, the new funding will be used to grow Husk’s fleet 8-times by adding more than 1,400 new minigrids with a projected 300,000 new connections (one-third of them MSMEs), while avoiding 350,000 tonnes of CO2. Husk will also continue to build a world-class team and add 2,500 more employees, while expanding into new markets in Africa and Asia. The Africa Sunshot initiative, which Husk announced at the Africa Climate Summit in September 2023, will mobilize at least $500 million for Husk to scale to 2,500 minigrids in 6 countries within 5 years. Two-thirds of the newly announced financing will go toward Sub-Saharan Africa, marking an important first step to achieving the Africa Sunshot goals.
Author: Bryan Gronendaal
