Sun King, a supplier of solar energy products in Africa and Asia, expands Series D to $330 million businessroundups.org

Sun King, a provider of off-grid solar energy products in Africa and Asia, has secured a $70 million equity investment led by LeapFrog Investments. It is an expansion of the $260 million Series D round the solar company announced in April, which was led by BeyondNetZero, General Atlantic’s climate investment firm and Catalyst and Arch Emerging Markets Partners of M&G Investments. For example, Sun King closed its Series D round at $330 million and raised as a result more than $550 million in debt and equity since inception.

Many African households and communities lack access to affordable and reliable solar technology, reducing their ability to generate electricity and reducing their reliance on grid power. Direct-to-consumer, pay-as-you-go (PAYG) solar distribution networks are offered by companies such as Sun King, providing households and individuals with cheap electricity.

Sun King claims to be the largest of its kind worldwide. According to the company, it has supplied solar energy to 165,000 households per month in eight African countries – and in Kenya, where it has been operating for more than a decade, more than 1 in 5 people use its product for light and power, accounting for 22 million Kenyans have served to date. On a much larger scale, Sun King pointed out that since its founding in 2007 by CEO Patrick Wals and Anish Thakkar, its products have supplied light and power to 95 million people in its African and Asian markets, including Cameroon, Mozambique and Togo, three countries into which it recently expanded. The solar company has also provided more than $500 million in solar purchase financing through a network of more than 20,000 field agents, 36% of whom are women.

“We are proud that LeapFrog is investing in Sun King to expand access to renewable solar energy,” said Thakkar. “LeapFrog brings a wealth of experience to meet the needs of customers in the countries where we operate to make solar energy solutions easily accessible to everyone.”

Sun King claims to be profitable and has grown its business 95% year over year since its first Series D investment nine months ago. We stated in April that much of the initial investment would be used to expand its PAYG solutions and introduce larger setups that can power appliances such as refrigerators and scale the company’s presence. This expansion, which includes $38 million in additional primary investments, will benefit from this effort. The expansion also has an additional secondary investment, which will be used to fully exit all previous Sun King institutional investors, the company said in a statement.

The founders of Sun King will retain voting control. As part of the deal, LeapFrog, which invested in African fintech giant Interswitch in May, will join the board of Sun King, which now includes General Atlantic and M&G Investments, as well as Prabha Sinha, the company’s first investor.

“Sun King is at the forefront of providing sustainable, safe and reliable access to electricity for emerging consumers in Africa and Asia. The company’s off-grid solar systems will be vital to filling the growing electricity accessibility gap and ensuring these emerging countries avoid the carbon dioxide emissions and adverse health impacts that result from energy sources such as diesel generators, wood stoves and kerosene,” said Karima Ola, partner at LeapFrog Investments.

“Through innovative payment models, Sun King ensures that consumers do not bear the costs of a clean energy transition upfront, enabling them to immediately switch to less carbon intensive consumption. We are excited to partner with Sun King for the next phase of their impressive growth trajectory.”