The decline is affecting early-stage companies and productive-use technologies the most, threatening innovation, scale, and impact at a time when the sector is poised for a breakthrough: demand for energy access solutions remains high, and donors, development finance institutions, philanthropies, and commercial investors are showing renewed commitment to the sector.
The key highlights shown in the database are as follows:
Scale-up companies raised $229 million in 2024 - 77 percent of total sector investment. Mature players are demonstrating commercial viability, with firms like Sun King and d.light utilising securitisations and off-balance-sheet structures to raise capital while managing risk. With early exits, internal debt repayments, and a major M&A move in Ignite’s acquisition of ENGIE Energy Access, scale-ups are showing investors that the sector can deliver both impact and returns.
Start-up investment declined by 70 percent in 2024, reflecting wider venture capital trends across Africa. Following a prolonged equity crunch, the sector has already undergone a wave of consolidation - one that, while difficult, has streamlined the landscape and surfaced a stronger group of capital-efficient, impact-driven companies.
Seed-stage companies raised $21 million in 2024 - matching last year’s total and signaling continued investor confidence in early-stage innovation. A record 67 companies secured funding, with half of all investment directed toward PURE solutions and 62 percent going to nationally owned firms. Despite broader funding pressures, seed-stage activity remains vibrant, with blended capital stacks - combining grants, equity, and technical assistance - creating new pathways from innovation to impact.
Investment in Productive Use Renewable Energy (PURE) fell by 62 percent in 2024, driven by the absence of the larger equity deals that shaped 2023. This year was marked by smaller, grant-led activity - with 49 companies raising capital and 39 of them receiving grants. While still early-stage, PURE continues to show strong potential in agriculture, livelihoods, and rural resilience - and is primed for growth with the right catalytic support
Over $900 million in Results-Based Financing (RBF) has been committed to the off-grid solar sector historically - with more than half pledged in just the past two years. 2024 marked a shift from commitments to implementation, with major programs like DARES Nigeria ($300M for off-grid solar) and Uganda’s Energy Access Scale-Up Project beginning to drive real market results. RBFs have emerged as one of the most powerful tools to close the $9 billion affordability gap for universal access - expanding access, crowding in capital, and unlocking scale.
New equity funds from IFC, Lightrock, Kawisafi, Persistent, and others signal investor confidence building, supported by stronger deal pipelines, improved risk metrics, and clearer paths to breakeven.
“This is a moment of both maturity and momentum for the off-grid solar sector - but it hasn’t come without cost” said Laura Fortes, Senior Access to Finance Manager at GOGLA. “We’ve seen tough exits and market consolidation, shaped by a long-running equity crunch. Yet the companies that remain have shown remarkable resilience, operating in challenging environments while continuing to deliver life-changing products to underserved communities. Demand is strong, the public value is undeniable, and the opportunity is real. But to unlock it at scale, we need donors to urgently address the affordability gap - so that companies can do what they’re built to do: deliver.”
Off-grid solar companies are consolidating, maturing and refining their approach to scale while new equity funds, often with concessional layers, are launching. The M300 initiative is set to unlock new capital, and specially subsidies, to provide energy access to 300 million people, increasing affordability and reducing investor risk. This convergence creates a window of opportunity to scale high-impact off-grid solar solutions across Africa and beyond.
Blended finance remains a key to unlock impact at scale, with small amounts of grant funding able to catalyze up to 10x in private investment, combining returns for investors with driving climate resilience, economic inclusion and financial access.
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