Sun Exchange has secured a $3 million investment from ARCH Emerging Markets Partners’ Africa Renewable Power Fund (ARPF), marking the close of its $4 million Series-A funding round.
Sun Exchange is a marketplace where customers can purchase solar cells and have them power businesses and communities in the sunniest locations on earth. It was founded in 2015 and is headquartered in Cape Town, South Africa.
The close of this funding round and the investment from ARCH will unlock the next phase of growth for Sun Exchange, enabling us to expand our work solar powering schools, clinics, farms, cell towers, water plants, businesses, and other organizations across Sub-Saharan Africa.
As a result, the startup will provide members exciting opportunities to further diversity their solar cell portfolios across regions and industries.
Additionally, the newly raised funds will be used to bolster the startup’s marketing activities to substantially grow our membership base, and make significant software enhancements to extend the capabilities and features of our online platform.
This also means we’ll continue building our team, creating several new, sustainable, clean energy jobs.
William Barry, Managing Director of ARCH, had to say about the investment: “Sun Exchange is positioned to emerge as an enabling force in the imminent global energy and economic transformation, with a first-of-a-kind platform that harnesses the power of a united global community to unlock the potential of distributed solar power in emerging markets.
“We are thrilled to partner with Sun Exchange on this journey to expand the success the company has already seen in South Africa throughout ARPF’s target markets in sub-Saharan Africa.”
Abe Cambridge, CEO & Founder of the startup, noted, “There has never been a more critical time to accelerate the Sun Exchange mission of connecting the entire world to the sun, as socio-economic and energy systems across the world are on the brink of being reset and redefined.”
Adam Draper, Co-Founder, and Managing Director, Boost VC, an early Sun Exchange investor, stated, “amidst the unprecedented health and financial hardships currently impacting the entire world, we’ve seen an undeniable slowdown in VC deals. This successful raise speaks volumes of the ingenuity and resilience of our business model.”
