NIGERIAN COMPANY RAISES $2.7MILLION TO IMPROVE ELECTRICITY ACCESS IN AFRICA

Nigerian energy tech startup, Beacon Power Services (BPS), has closed a $2.7 million seed round. Founder and Chief executive officer of BPS, Bimbola Adisa, also said the company’s seed round was led by Seedstars Africa Ventures with participation from Persistent Energy, Kepple Africa Ventures, Factor[e] and Oridun Capital Management.

He explained that the funding will enable the company, which provides energy management software and analytics for utilities and mini-grid operators, to improve its current products, which include product upgrades to add new features and incorporate automation as well as expand into new markets beyond Nigeria and Ghana, where it currently operates. Adisa, said: “Africa is home to the fastest grow-ing cities in the world, but when most people think of energy access in Africa, they think of the rural areas with little or no access to electricity at all. However, it is impossible for Africa to develop without significantly improving electricity access and reliability across its major cities.

“When we realized that solutions designed for mature markets fail to address the unique infrastructure challenges Africa faces, we developed a tailored solution for power companies on the continent to improve daily grid supply of electricity.” Managing Partner at Seedstars Africa Ventures, Maxime Bouan, said, “As a society, we have recognized climate change as one of the biggest threats to our generation, and it is critical we use smart capital to support entrepreneurs across Africa who are creating innovative and localized solutions to tackle this challenge.”