The UK startup Domna has secured a £70 million ($87 million) majority investment from private equity firm Leon Capital, according to Tech Funding News. The company is one of the leading home energy efficiency and retrofit services, and it has now received one of the biggest first-time raises for a female founder team in Europe. The team plans to improve home energy efficiency and support sustainability initiatives. Their outlook on home energy efficiency examines the UK’s retrofit challenge by combining advanced software with practical expertise. Now that Domna has the
In a development for South Africa’s renewable energy sector, Grid Africa has raised R50 million ($2.8 million) in equity from Rifuwo Energy Partners. This investment comes at a pivotal time as the nation faces rising energy costs, exacerbated by Eskom’s – a government-owned company that is South Africa’s main supplier of electric power – proposed 36% tariff hike. The fresh funds will fuel the acceleration of solar energy projects across the country, offering businesses a cost-effective alternative to grid electricity. Timing Amidst Rising Energy Costs With South Africa’s state-owned power
Chris Womack has become president and CEO of Southern Company, joining a small group of Black chief executives leading major publicly traded corporations. Based in Atlanta, Southern Company is a prominent energy provider, generating $22.4 billion in annual revenue in 2021, and through its subsidiaries, it serves approximately 9 million customers. Three Decades of experience A 35-year company veteran, Womack previously was chairman, president, and CEO of Georgia Power, the Southern Company’s largest subsidiary. Before that, the Greenville, Alabama native was executive vice president and president of external affairs for Southern
Black-owned renewable energy platform, Koolboks, announced the close of its $2.5 million seed funding round. The funding round, led by Nigeria-based growth equity fund Aruwa Capital Management, also included participation from Acumen, Blue Earth Capital, All On, GSMA, and other investors. Koolboks, founded in 2018 by Ayoola Dominic and Deborah Gael, has provided a solution to Africa’s inconsistent and erratic power supply. The company has designed generated refrigerators without power to offer accessible cold storage solutions to businesses and citizens across Africa. The company also offers 24-hour refrigeration sourced from
Kenyan and Canadian-based solar energy platform, Solar Panda, has raised $8 million in Series A funding. The funding round was led by investors Oikocredit and Electrification Financing Initiative. The pay-as-you-go solar home system was founded by Andy Keith in 2016, to help provide clean, affordable solar energy to rural communities in Africa. The platform has already provided more than 200,000 solar home systems to households across Kenya from its 37 retail branches. “We are excited to partner with leading global impact investors Oikocredit and EDFI ElectriFI and thankful that this
Originally posted here via Wogrammer As a child in Nigeria, Olamide Opadokun noticed a constant issue in her community: the sporadic availability of electricity. With not enough energy being produced for each town, families and businesses were often forced to use backup generators that made loud, disruptive noises and contributed to air pollution. Having read about renewable energy advances happening abroad, Olamide wondered why Nigeria didn’t have a better solution. “It was sunny every day in Nigeria — why weren’t we using more solar energy? As the rest of the
