Financing the environmental and energy transition is a key objective for Mirova, an affiliate of Natixis Investment Managers dedicated to impacting investment. In a statement, Mirova noted that with the acquisition of SunFunder, a private debt management company financing renewable energy projects in Africa and Asia, it is expanding its investment platform in emerging markets as part of its development strategy in real assets.
“In order to thoroughly address the challenges that come with the fight against global warming and social inequalities, having a local presence in emerging countries is critical. We are delighted that SunFunder’s teams, with their proven experience and expertise, are joining us,” said Philippe Zaouati, CEO of Mirova in the statement.
Founded 10 years ago as a crowd funding platform, SunFunder’s main objective was to offer financing solutions for decentralised solar energy sector in Africa, in order to achieve direct impact at the intersection of climate change and inequality.
Since then, the company has launched a series of innovative blended finance investment vehicles and closed over US$165 million in investments across 58 companies deploying clean energy mainly in Africa and Asia. This includes off-grid solar home systems in Malawi, village mini-grid projects in Kenya, and commercial and industrial rooftop installations in Nigeria and Thailand.
SunFunder has helped improve access to solar energy for more than 10 million people, predominantly in East and West Africa, before extending its expertise to other emerging markets, including Southeast Asia.
The statement added that through the acquisition, the entire SunFunder team will be retained in order to keep expanding the high impact energy transition work and, together with Mirova, build a broader emerging markets platform dedicated to clean energy and climate investments. SunFunder has an experienced and diverse team of 38 people of 16 different nationalities, 55% of whom are women and 45% of whom are African, mainly based in Nairobi, Paris and London.