Bangladesh-based SOLshare closes $1.1m financing round
Bangladesh-based SOLshare has closed a $1.1 million financing round and the off-grid solar technology marketplace firm use the fund to deliver smart solar micro-grids to off-grid, underserved communities in the country.
Dubbed when the AirBnB of the energy off-grid space, SOLshare was founded in 2014 in Dhaka, the business said in a statement yesterday.
To date, the company has create 30 peer-to-peer solar electricity trading grids found in Bangladesh and India. SOLshare assists people to carefully turn their excess solar power into money with zero hassle.
It also permits them to buy more vitality on the run whenever they want and also they get to invest in more power era and trade it off for a handsome go back with minimal risk.
For the funding, the business was supported by IIX Impact Partners-the world's most successful debt and equity crowdfunding program for impact investing-through its network of impact investors.
Current investors, innogy Different Ventures LLC and EDP Ventures, are also section of the round, together with latest angel investors from all over the world.
Innogy New Ventures LLC may be the venture capital purchase arm of the German utility firm innogy SE and EDP Ventures may be the investment arm of Portuguese based utility company EDP, according to the statement.
"The SOLshare team have been working on a financing spherical for many months and Covid-19 was an additional unexpected task," said Sebastian Groh, managing director of SOLshare.
"Thanks to the tremendous support of existing investors, support companions, and mentors the business was able to progress. We're thrilled that shareholders recognize the critical need on the ground, especially in one of the most vulnerable communities on the planet who risk losing usage of clean energy in addition to the great potential SOLshare must show the road into a much better energy future."
In the aftermath of Covid-19, venture capital rounds dropped by 44 per cent in the US alone. In the primary one fourth of 2020, no capital was secured by ASEAN-concentrated private equity cash, demonstrating a demanding fundraising environment.
To aid SMEs in raising capital, IIX is leveraging on-the-surface data-driven insights to supply businesses and traders with comparative, standardised data on risk, go back, and impact (RRI).
The RRI can help them create risk mitigation strategies, try to make capital allocation decisions, and more effectively and transparently drive capital towards where it is needed the most.
"IIX is thrilled to keep helping SOLshare, following our 2018 purchase through our IIX Expansion Fund," said Robert Kraybill, IIX chief expense officer and managing director of portfolio operations.
In the last decade, IIX has generated a highway of support for enterprises across their stages of growth, effectively connecting them to capital marketplaces through Impact Companions, Kraybill said.
"With shareholders reeling from the marketplace meltdown, we assume that RRI investment strategies will become the brand new norm. Traders who can assess possibilities through the lens of risk-return-impact can look to make appealing returns from buying COVID-resilient businesses while creating confident impact for people and planet."
SOLshare is functioning toward an energy potential fuelled not by fossil fuels but by democratisation, by decentralisation and decarbonisation, the business said.
The funding will put SOLshare on track to positively impact 2.5 million people by 2023.
"We are doubling down on SOLshare's perspective and mission, which continues to persuade the world a deep commitment to underserved communities takes care of for investors," Stefan Padberg, managing director of innogy New Ventures LLC.
"We are fired up to be always a part of the journey to create affordable clean strength accessible to everyone."
SOLshare's peer-to-peer marketplace found in solar villages creates monetary value, allowing the utilization by smaller businesses of person household's vitality that otherwise will be wasted, said Luís Manuel, executive director of EDP Technology.
Even prior to the pandemic, SMEs formed the backbone of the global market, creating over 90 % of most firms, 70 per cent of total career, and 50 per cent of gross domestic merchandise.
SOLshare is currently negotiating a framework arrangement to support the US High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) office in Bangladesh supplying clever solar micro-grids found in the Rohingya refugee camps.
SOLshare in addition has announced that it offers won the Ashden Award found in the energy access category for "Finance and BUSINESS DESIGN Innovation", a good gala ceremony referred to as the Green Oscars in the Royal Geographic World in London, UK.
Ashden spotlights and supports climate and strength innovators all over the world, including businesses, non-profits and open public sector organisations which are delivering proven, ready-to-scale climate solutions.
