Lumos, a Netherlands-based provider of off-grid solar PV systems, has raised $90 million in financing for the deployment of its pay-as-you-go systems in Nigeria.
The Overseas Private Investment Corp. (OPIC) pledged $50 million of that figure in debt funding, with the additional $40 million in equity coming via a group led by Pembani Remgro Infrastructure Fund and existing investors VLTCM and ICV.
Lumos raised $35 million earlier this year, and joins other similar startups in successfully raising capital to realize innovative off-grid solar projects in parts of Africa and Asia. BBOXX Ltd from London recently raised $20 million financing, and in September d.light Energy raised $15 million.
Lumos hopes that its pay-as-you-go model will bring clean, reliable and affordable energy to millions of Nigerians that live off the grid. According to OPIC CEO and president Elizabeth L. Littlefield, around half of Nigerians have no access to the already-unreliable national power grid.
Customers can pay for the solar they use via mobile phone credit, and Lumos already works with local telecommunications company MTN Group to bring its platform to consumers.
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