InspiraFarms closes Series B investment round to scale the deployment of innovative solar-powered cold storage solutions in East and Southern Africa

May 20, 2020

InspiraFarms, the leading provider on- and off-grid cold storage solutions in East and Southern Africa, has closed a Series B to further expand its operations in the region. The series was led by KawiSafi Ventures, a growth equity fund focused on renewable energy in East Africa. Existing investors Energy Access Ventures and PYMWYMIC also participated in the round along with Untapped, which was closed in April 2020.

InspiraFarms designs, finances and supplies energy-efficient and solar-powered cold rooms to agribusinesses and food distributors in East and Southern Africa. InspiraFarms technology allows its customers to access new higher-value markets, significantly cut energy costs, reduce post-harvest losses and meet international food safety certifications. InspiraFarms provides remote performance monitoring capabilities and long-term asset financing that allow customers to overcome financial barriers to acquiring new technology and grow sustainably.

InspiraFarms is also working in partnership with the Shell Foundation and with project finance partners to scale the building of a leasing platform to expand access to longer-term affordable asset financing for agribusiness clients, including a ‘cooling as a service’ option, first-mile cooling for out-growers, as well as medium to large scale cold storage for distributors and exporters.

Tim Chambers, Co-Founder and CEO of InspiraFarms, remarked: “In a time of critical need for food supply chains to ensure the health and welfare of the global population, InspiraFarms is focused on continuing to support our clients to improve their ability to produce, manage and supply fresh produce to domestic and export markets”

Amar Inamdar, Managing Director of KawiSafi Ventures, commented: “We are excited to join forces with other investors to support InspiraFarms in its growth journey. At KawiSafi, we see InspiraFarms as a world-class leader in energy-efficient cold chain and look forward to working together to implement rapid solutions in agricultural efficiency across Africa”.

 

For all press enquiries please contact:

InspiraFarms: Paula Rodriguez prodriguez@www.inspirafarms.com

KawiSafi Ventures: Jackline Mwangi-Ruvaga jmwangi@kawisafiventures.com

 

Notes to editors:

About InspiraFarms

InspiraFarms is a UK based technology and asset finance company aimed at supporting agribusinesses in emerging markets to be more competitive and sustainable. InspiraFarms designs, finances and supplies energy-efficient and solar-powered cold storage facilities that are both portable and connected, using remote monitoring systems and a customer portal to enable analytics to support greater efficiency in the supply chain.

About KawiSafi Ventures

KawiSafi Ventures is a $70 million fund designed to invest catalytic capital to scale companies providing clean, affordable, and efficient energy to East Africa’s low-income populations that for too long have lived without access to electricity. KawiSafi specifically looks to fill critical market gaps to create a sustainable off-grid ecosystem and commits to measuring its social and environmental impact. The Fund aims to deliver clean, affordable energy to more than 10 million people in East Africa, at least half of whom are low-income, and displace more than a million tons of carbon; contributing to solving energy poverty while helping to avert the long-term climate crisis.

About Energy Access Ventures

Energy Access Ventures is a leading smart infrastructure investment firm in Africa and uniquely positioned to take advantage of the emerging smart, distributed, cost-effective infrastructure market segment. EAV has carved out a reputation as a hands-on investor that works closely with its portfolio companies to capture the significant opportunity in Africa. EAV’s first fund (“EAV I”) was raised in February 2015 and is €75,000,000 in size with 9 investment professionals. The fund is sponsored by the leading French multinational Schneider Electric and is managed by Aster Capital in Paris. Its investors are CDC Group (UK), managing funds for the UK Department for International Development, the European Investment Bank, the Fonds d’Investissement et de Soutien aux Entreprises en Afrique (FISEA) held by Agence Française de Développement (AFD) and managed by Proparco, the Fonds Français pour l’Environnement Mondial (FFEM), administered by AFD, Financierings-Maatschappij voor Ontwikkelingslanden (FMO), the Netherlands Development Finance Company the OPEC Fund for International Development (OFID) and Schneider Electric. For more information, please visit www.eavafrica.com

About PYMWYMIC

Pymwymic is an investment cooperative of private investors who invest in impact-driven enterprises through Sustainable Development Goal themed sub-funds, leveraging a peer-to-peer network and exchange of knowledge and expertise. The Pymwymic Healthy Ecosystems Impact Fund invests in early to growth-stage companies that have measurable impact and seek to conserve and restore our ecosystems while generating an attractive financial return. Questions or interested to join our cooperative? Contact: info@pymwymic.com

About Untapped

Untapped provides capital and technology to support local entrepreneurship and innovation in frontier markets.   It aims to foster stronger ecosystems to support innovative ventures in frontier markets which will drive prosperity and economic development for the poorest around the world. Untapped deploy capital through technology-enabled asset financing, using mobile technology and digital payments to secure and scale financing for small businesses. With a focus on financing of revenue-generating assets for essential services, it seeks to create opportunities for small entrepreneurs and improve the lives of the underserved. Untapped supports entrepreneurs and manages projects in East Africa, West Africa, the Caribbean, and Southeast Asia and has offices in Nairobi, Bamako, and Port-au-Prince with headquarters in San Francisco. For more information, visit www.untapped-inc.com

About the Shell Foundation

Shell Foundation (SF) is a UK-registered charity, founded by Shell in 2000, that creates and scales business solutions to enhance access to energy and affordable transport for low-income communities across Africa and Asia. Shell Foundation’s support to InspiraFarms is provided in partnership with the UK’s Department for International Development (DFID) as part of the £30m Catalysing Agriculture by Scaling Energy Ecosystems programme.