African solar kits provider Qotto raises $8Mn to expand its operations

African solar kits provider Qotto raises $8Mn to expand its operations

Qotto, a leading African solar kits provider with operations in Benin and Burkina Faso, has reportedly secured over $8 million in its Series A equity-debt financing round. As per reports, the round was headed by the IBL group, a Mauritius-based billion-dollar conglomerate with business interests in a range of industries, including financial services, engineering, energy, and logistics.

Cordaid, the Off-Grid Energy Access Fund (FEI-OGEF), also participated in the funding round alongside Qotto's existing investors.

Qotto intends to use the capital to further expand into its current markets and also enter the Ivory Coast, where it will start doing business by the end of this month.

Qotto, established 2016, creates and provides standalone solar kits and lights to people living in the least electrified areas of Africa. It also caters to people in sub-Saharan Africa who are off-grid because of inadequate national power systems using a pay-to-own strategy.

According to Qotto, IBL is also outlining its East African development roadmap after inking a collaboration deal and committing to offer off-grid services in the region. The expansion, scheduled to take place by September 2023, will also coincide with IBL's plans to strengthen its foothold in East Africa, elevating tis clean energies exposure.

The expansion bid comes as Qotto evolves into a provider of a wide range of important services. These new products include banking services as well as internet access hotspots.

The proposed financial services encompass micro-credit, micro-insurance, and micro-savings products developed in partnership with partners including SUNU, a major insurer in West Africa.

The internet hotspots will be located in places with plenty of foot traffic, such as stores, bars, and restaurants.

Renewable energy solutions from firms like Qotto are reducing the energy access barrier in the world's least electrified nations, including Burundi, South Sudan, Malawi, Chad, Madagascar, Burkina Faso, and Tanzania, all situated in Sub-Saharan Africa, which is home to 75% of the world's population.

According to Qotto, its revenue has surged by around 50% year over year. As of the end of 2022, it had 11,000 active users, a number it expects to nearly double by the end of this year if its growth plans come to fruition.

Source credit: https://techcrunch.com/2023/02/13/cleantech-qotto-embarks-on-growth-plan-backed-by-8m-funding/