Solarbox Africa secures USD 1m in pre-seed funding
ARE Member On.Capital, Solarbox’s initial institutional investor, is thrilled to announce that Solarbox has raised USD 1m in pre-seed funding to advance clean B2B mobility in West Africa.
Dakar, 19 November 2024 – Solarbox, the emerging leader of electric mobility solutions for businesses in West Africa, today announced the closing of its USD 1m Pre-Seed round. The funding enables Solarbox to satisfy massive demand for its solutions in Senegal and neighbouring regions. The company attracted reputed early-stage investors such as Digital Energy Facility (a collaborative initiative led by Agence Française de Développement, IetP and ARE Member Gaia Impact Fund), Launch Africa, JLL Foundation as well as Teranga Capital.
SolarBox, incubated by Wuri Ventures, designs, assembles and deploys custom-made light electric vehicles (2 and 3-wheelers) for corporates – with solar charging, financing and fleet management solutions.
In less than a year, SolarBox partnered with industry leaders across Senegal, including ARE Member Orange Energies, FedEx, Paps Logistics, Plastic Odyssey, Swiss Fresh Water, Health in a Box, and Fleetch, demonstrating its unique ability to accelerate the transition to clean mobility for many African businesses.
Indeed, Senegal imports USD 2bn in petroleum products annually while it boasts the world’s third-largest solar potential at 6.32 kWh/m2, which is roughly twice the energy generated in Germany, at 3.01 kWh/m2, the world leader in solar energy. SolarBox’s vehicles and charging solutions, contribute to reducing air pollution by avoiding harmful emissions, and thereby improving public health, while allowing its customers to save costs. Data from its deployments with Orange Energies show each vehicle costs USD 2.50 for 100km of driving relative to up to USD 5.50 for gasoline for savings of 50-60% relative to fuel vehicles. Additionally, each vehicle uses 10.8 MWh of renewable energy annually, cutting 10 tonnes of carbon emissions equivalent per year, and contributing to climate resiliency in the Sahel.
“In less than a year, Solarbox demonstrated that it could win over big corporates with a win-win offer, while assembling and designing solutions that truly fit local realities and customers’ needs. We believe this Pre-Seed round positions Solarbox as the fastest growing, profitable, and well funded electric mobility leader in Senegal” says Paul-Francois Cattier, senior venture partner at On.Capital, the first institutional investor in Solarbox.
In a recent video, Wuri Ventures Managing Partner, Tijan Watt, says “Instead of importing millions of tonnes of petroleum from overseas each year to power our vehicles, we can just use sunlight.” With 40% of Africa’s energy needs accounted for by transportation, with imports exceeding USD 40 billion annually, switching to solar powered electric mobility might just be a winning proposition.