Zola Electric secures $90m capital for expansion

Zola Electric, a Nigerian-based company aimed at addressing energy access challenges, has secured $90 million in new capital to develop its distributed renewable energy services and penetrate new markets.

ZOLA Electric, formerly known as Off-Grid Electric, was formed ten years ago by Erica Mackey, Xavier Helgesen, and Joshua Pierce in Tanzania with the goal of providing solar home solutions to off-grid rural communities that lacked grid infrastructure.

Today, ZOLA is a leading technology company with differentiated solutions capable of addressing any energy access issue, whether rural, urban, off-grid, on-grid, residential, or commercial.

The company currently serves over 1 million users in over ten countries across three continents according to the firm. The mission of ZOLA is to provide clean energy everywhere and software-as-a-service in addition to this offering (SaaS).

The funds are allocated 50/50 between equity and debt. The equity side of the investment was headed by TotalEnergies Ventures, DBL Partners, Helios Investment Partners, Paul Allen’s Vulcan Capital, Lyndon, and Pete Rive, and Electron Capital Partners, a US-based utility-focused investment company.

The loan finance was provided by two Dutch development financiers, FMO and SunFunder. The news comes three years after the company received $55 million in a Series D fundraising round. Although it’s unclear whether the new fundraising is Series E or a bridge round, and whether a down round is involved, subsequent Venture Capital DataBase (VC) rounds are usually larger. During the last year, the firm has been able to secure more than $230 million in loan and equity capital.

A lot of countries both in Africa and others have benefitted from these services such as Ghana, Namibia, Ivory Coast, DRC, and Nigeria. The firm has gone on to set up markets in other countries outside Africa like the USA, Brazil, Pakistan, and the Philippines. They also intend to include North Africa, Asia, and South America.