Over 1 million Euro has been raised by crowdinvestors to finance solar projects in emerging markets on the ecoligo.investments platform. The milestone demonstrates the potential of individual investors to bridge a well-known finance gap for commercial and industrial (C&I) sector solar projects, consequently transforming a sector where traditional financing methods have failed. This opportunity is an integral part of ecoligo’s fully financed solar-as-a-service business model.
The seven-digit-figure has been reached by 327 private investors. In total, 12 projects have been financed on the ecoligo.investments platform, which will save over 19,000 tonnes of CO2 emissions throughout the project lifetimes. Projects with a combined capacity of almost 900 kWp have been financed in Ghana, Kenya, the Philippines and Chile, countries that see high energy prices and have optimal climatic conditions for solar energy. The first projects were funded on the platform in April 2017.
ecoligo was founded in 2016 and is on track to provide affordable, renewable energy to 1,000 businesses in 20 countries resulting in 4 million tonnes of CO2 emissions savings. Local economic development and a tangible shift towards sustainable energy use are some of expected outcomes of ecoligo’s impact.
The Impact Hub Accra was the first Ghanaian company to benefit from ecoligo's solar-as-a-service solution. The system was financed in just 11 hours on ecoligo.investments this March. William Senyo, CEO of Impact Hub Accra, said:
“Our solar battery system has helped the Hub in ways that we wouldn't have previously imagined. Running on solar power has made us more visible as a company at the forefront of sustainable business in Ghana. This has helped us to gain wider attention, leading to events such as the German Chancellor Angela Merkel visiting the Impact Hub Accra. Furthermore, the cost savings enable us to direct our resources into improving and expanding the Hub, and we’re no longer affected by constant power interruptions from the grid. This has not gone unnoticed, and we’re receiving more applications for office space at the hub than ever.”
The minimum investment sum on ecoligo.investments was recently reduced from 500 Euro to 100 Euro, opening access to sustainable investment opportunities to a wider audience. Markus Schwaninger, CFO of ecoligo said: “Since the minimum investment amount was lowered, there have been a greater number of investors supporting the solar projects. Repayments from the first three projects have also been distributed, demonstrating that the solar systems generate sustainable profits. We can see that the crowd has the power to transform the energy landscape and we’re happy to be putting that into action.”
Last week, two solar projects in Kenya were successfully funded through ecoligo.investments, which provide solar power to a mall and flower farm. In these projects, investors receive 5.50 percent or 6.00 percent interest p.a., with a repayment period of 4 or 5 years. The projects were fully funded within a few days. New projects will be online soon: private investors can register on the ecoligo.investments platform to be informed about upcoming investment opportunities.