Participated · Series D · Apr 2022

Sun King bundles solar generation hardware, energy-efficient appliances, installation services and consumer financing to deliver reliable electricity in regions with limited or no grid access. The company’s product line spans low-cost solar kits for lighting and phone charging up to multi-kilowatt inverter systems capable of powering homes, clinics, farms and commercial facilities. Since 2007, it has distributed 29 million solar products worldwide, with 67% of customers gaining electricity access for the first time, and it has extended $1.4 billion in consumer financing through its pay-as-you-go model that lowers daily energy costs to roughly $0.15–$0.20. Sun King currently sells about 330,000 solar kits per month through a network of 470 retail shops and 35,000 field agents operating in 11 African countries. Future plans include deploying 50 million additional solar kits and reaching 200 million people by 2030 while scaling its shop footprint to 1,650 locations and doubling its agent base to 90,000. The firm also intends to introduce higher-capacity solar systems, clean-cooking technologies, smartphones, refrigerators, and other productive-use appliances, targeting 3.8 GW of new distributed solar capacity by decade’s end.

Led · Series A · Jun 2020

Sun Exchange operates a crowd-based leasing marketplace that identifies schools, shops and other businesses for solar adoption, runs crowdsales of project solar cells, and works with local construction partners to install and manage systems. Members purchase cells in local currency (via card, bank transfer or Bitcoin), after which projects are installed and members can track power generated, carbon offset and revenue. The startup has facilitated 45 solar projects across South Africa and Zimbabwe. Founded in 2015 by Abe Cambridge, Sun Exchange aims to continue scaling its solar leasing platform across the region. Financially, the company recently secured new convertible note financing to support growth and follows a prior ARPF-backed Series A. Public statements from investors frame the round as support for Sun Exchange’s role in accelerating the energy transition in Africa. Sun Exchange operates a peer-to-peer, crypto-enabled platform that lets individuals anywhere buy solar cells and sell the electricity produced to schools, businesses and organizations in South Africa. The platform meters panel output, arranges purchases with the chosen energy consumer, collects payments in South African rand or Bitcoin, and returns proceeds to users' Sun Exchange wallets. It costs roughly $5 per solar cell to participate and the company reports members in 162 countries. Sun Exchange is asset-free and supplier-agnostic, partnering with local solar installers and earning revenue from margins on panel sales and fees on purchases and kilowatt hours generated. The company was co-founded by Abe Cambridge in 2015 and is headquartered in Cape Town. With the latest financing it plans to expand into other Sub-Saharan African markets (Nigeria is specifically referenced) and, in the medium to long term, Latin America and Southeast Asia. The Sun Exchange is a South African blockchain-based solar panel micro-leasing marketplace that connects individual investors to solar projects. It recently completed an equity crowdfunding campaign on Uprise.Africa, raising over R4.2-million (about $300,000) from 288 investors as part of its seed fundraising. The campaign fell short of the R7-million ($460,000) target for a 5.22% stake, though a one-month extension brought in an additional R800,000 from 72 further individuals. To date the startup says it has raised over $1-million, including a $500,000 investment from hedge fund Alphabit Fund announced last October. The company plans to use the Uprise funds to grow its user base tenfold over the next two years, expand into new African markets in the short term and Eastern Europe, South America and Central Asia in the medium term, and to expand its technology team. It also intends to build an interactive, gamified solar-ownership dashboard with rewards and referral programmes and to move into a larger Cape Town office to support growing sales, business development and marketing teams. The Sun Exchange operates an online, blockchain-based marketplace that enables investors to finance small solar projects and receive returns. The startup has completed multiple installations, including its eighth project at Protea Heights Academy in Cape Town, where it sold 7,344 solar cells in a crowdsale that raised R609,552 for 34 kW from 112 people across 20 countries. It was founded in 2015 and is active in South Africa, with a Kruger National Park project due to launch later this month. Financially, the company is mid-seed and targeting a $3-million seed round led by US digital asset fund Alphabit. To date it has raised $750,000 toward that target, including a prior $500,000 investment from Alphabit. CEO Abraham Cambridge said the most recent investment was an extension on the same valuation; the company has not disclosed its overall valuation. The Sun Exchange operates a blockchain-based solar micro-leasing marketplace that lets investors earn income from small solar projects the startup manages. It concluded an initial coin offering (ICO) for its Sunex Token that ended on 31 December and raised $1,068,205, allocating 28,485,478 Sunex Tokens. The ICO raised roughly 20% of a $5.4-million target, which the company attributed to turbulent ICO market conditions. The token sale helped the startup roughly double its user base and grow members from more than 130 countries, and increased its exposure across the global cryptocurrency and blockchain industries. Sun Exchange stated it will continue to seek external equity investments to raise additional capital. The company has presented on stages in San Francisco, Las Vegas, Malta, London and Singapore as part of its outreach.