Husk Power Secures $100+ Million in Equity and Debt To Boost Growth

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Husk Power Systems has now announced closing $43 million in Series D funding. It said that it is the largest-ever equity raise in the minigrid industry. The funding, the firm said, would bolster Husk’s position as the leader in electrifying communities in rural Sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia with an Artificial Intelligence-enabled platform of renewable energy services. 

The equity funding includes new investors STOA Infra & Energy, the US International Development Finance Corporation (DFC) and Proparco, as well as existing investors Shell Ventures, Swedfund and FMO. 

In addition, Husk has leveraged the Series D equity to secure an additional $60 million in debt from several finance institutions, including the European Investment Bank (EIB), and the International Finance Corporation (IFC). 

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The firm in a media release said that since raising $25 million in equity funding in 2018, Husk has grown its fleet 20-fold to more than 200 solar hybrid minigrids across two continents, impacted 500,000 people, served more than 10,000 micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs). It also claimed to have avoided 25,000 tonnes of CO2, achieved a CAGR of 60% despite two years of Covid.  It also became the first minigrid company to become EBITDA positive in Q4 2022, and has built a team of more than 500 employees.

The company said that over the next five years, the new funding would be used to grow Husk’s fleet 8-times by adding more than 1,400 new minigrids with a projected 300,000 new connections (one-third of them MSMEs), while avoiding 350,000 tonnes of CO2. Husk will also continue to build a team and add 2,500 more employees, while expanding into new markets in Africa and Asia. 

The Africa Sunshot initiative, which Husk announced at the Africa Climate Summit in September 2023, will mobilize at least $500 million for Husk to scale to 2,500 minigrids in 6 countries within 5 years. Two-thirds of the newly announced financing will go toward Sub-Saharan Africa, marking an important first step to achieving the Africa Sunshot goals.

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