MPower is a start-up that provides small- and medium-scale solar energy solutions in emerging markets.
Business overview
Location | Zurich, Switzerland |
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Social media | |
Website | www.mpower.africa/ |
Sectors | Energy Mixed Digital/Non-Digital Mixed B2B/B2C |
Company number | CHE-452.912.844 |
Incorporation date | 13 Dec 2017 |
Investment summary
Business highlights
- Estimated sales of EUR 1.6m in 2022*; > 20 B2B partners secured
- First country EBITDA positive (Zambia)
- Term sheet for a USD 2m debt facility for Southern Africa secured
- Backed by InnoEnergy, Techn. Fund, responsAbility and South Pole
Key features
Idea
Introduction
Our B2B platform offers a 360° solution providing solar energy and a variety of cleantech and solar appliances at an affordable cost. Over 500m people in Sub-Saharan Africa lack access to electricity, and many are connected to unreliable grids. Solar and storage technologies have become the preferred power source. However, several challenges inhibit growth in the market:
*based on unaudited management accounts.
• Lack of affordable financing solutions for end-customers
• Unavailability of quality solutions and efficient appliances
• Inefficient operations due to an absence of digital tools
• Expensive capital for solar companies and low inventory levels
Our 360° solution combines cost-effective, high-quality solar products with affordable financing for our end users and B2B partners, and we provide in-house software solutions to help our distributors optimize their operations.
Thanks to our finance partners and our transparent credit scoring model, we can provide low interest rates at favorable terms for the end user.

Substantial accomplishments to date
Business accomplishments up until today:
• Revenue 2021: EUR 1.15M
• Diverse team of 32 people with local operations in Zambia, Togo, Cameroon, Namibia and Ghana
• First EBITDA-positive country (Zambia)
• Realised projects/partnerships include UNDP, UNESCO, MTN, Barry Callebaut, Prospero & EDC
• Renowned existing shareholder base and investors: South Pole, Innovationsfonds (Alternative Bank Schweiz), InnoEnergy, and some of the leading angel investors
• Supported by leading stakeholders: ResponsAbility (TA Facility), SIMA, the Technology Fund (debt), Google for Startups' Advisor program for SDG startups
• Term sheet for a USD 2M debt facility for Southern Africa secured & an additional USD 2M for West Africa is in negotiation
Impact accomplishments up until today:
• 1.8M tons of CO2 emissions avoided
• 101k people are benefiting from clean power
• More than 57k end-users with a consumer finance solution
• 677 MWh produced
Monetisation strategy
We have spent the last four years building a B2B platform to deliver solar energy and cleantech products to Africans living in hard-to-reach and peri-urban areas. We have already sold over 30,000 units in seven Sub-Saharan African countries and have built the infrastructure to scale further. We offer products ranging from solar panels, batteries, plug & play devices and productive use appliances (such as solar run irrigation pumps), just to name a few.
We currently generate income from two sources:
• The bulk of our revenues currently comes from hardware sales to our local B2B partners, resulting in a 34% margin.*
• Financing activities are also contributing to the topline with a target net spread of 1% per month (after cost of capital, OpEx and defaults).*
*based on unaudited management accounts.
In parallel, we are currently working on monetizing carbon credits through our partnership with South Pole. Based on our estimations, this will increase our yearly revenue.

Use of proceeds
The funds from the pre-series A equity raise will primarily be used for market expansion and technology development:
• Scale-up operations in Zambia, Togo, Cameroon & Namibia
• Markets expansion: Ghana, Ivory Coast & Botswana
• Technology development: Software, embedded systems, IoT
We expect to raise our Series A investment in late 2023–2024 to realize our growth objectives and benefit our end users, B2B partners and investors. At that point, we aim to be profitable and one of the only B2B2C platforms of its type and scale in Africa.
Key Information
Share Class
All investors in this round will receive Preferred A Shares, please find information concerning share classes below:
• Preferred A Shares:
☉ Senior 1x non-participating preference (see further below).
☉ Voting rights
☉ Dividend rights
☉ Broad based weighted average anti-dilution, with a valuation floor of CHF 5m
• Preferred Seed Shares
☉ Junior 1x non-participating preference (see further below).
☉ Voting rights
☉ Dividend rights
• Ordinary Shares
☉ Capital distribution rights out of any proceeds left over after the Senior and Junior preferences above have been satisfied
☉ Voting rights
☉ Dividend rights
Preference:
• On the Company’s liquidation, sale, reorganisation, IPO, merger or change of control, the Preferred A Shareholders and Preferred Seed Shareholders will receive the following out of the distributable proceeds:
☉(i) First, the Preferred A Shareholders will receive the higher of:
■ The value of their original investment, less any distributions (dividends etc); and
■ The amount payable if the capital distribution was divided equally between all shareholders
☉ (ii) Second, once (i) above has been satisfied, the Preferred Seed Shareholders will receive the higher of:
■ The value of their original investment, less any distributions (dividends etc); and
■ The amount payable if the capital distribution was divided equally between all shareholders
☉ (iii) Lastly, once (i) and (ii) have been satisfied in full, any remaining proceeds will be distributed equally to the Ordinary Shareholders
Group Structure
Investors in this round are investing in and will become shareholders of MPower Ventures AG (Switzerland). This is the holding company for the following subsidiaries:
• MPower Zambia
• MPower Togo
• MPower Namibia
• MPower Cameroon
• MPower Spain
Debt
The company has the following outstanding loans:
CHF 375,000 loan at an interest rate of 1.63% per annum. The loan was taken out on June 5th, 2019 and is to be repaid on February 12th, 2027.
CHF 375,000 loan at an interest rate of 1.43% per annum. The loan was taken out on October 1st, 2019. CHF 150,000 will be repaid on May 14, 2023, and CHF 225,000 will be repaid on February 12th, 2027.
CHF 375,000 loan at an interest rate of 1.45% per annum. The loan was taken out on May 2th0, 2020 and is to be repaid on February 12th, 2027.
CHF 375,000 loan at an interest rate of 1.35% per annum. The loan was taken out on September 24th, 2020. CHF 150,000 is to be repaid on November 1st 2023 and CHF 225,000 is to be repaid on February 12th, 2027.
CHF 45,182 Covid19 loan at an interest rate of 0% per annum. The loan was taken out on March 27th, 2020 and is to be repaid in equal instalments quarterly until March 27th, 2025.
CHF 75,000 Covid19 loan at an interest rate of 0.5% per annum. The loan was taken out on March 1st, 2021 and is to be repaid in yearly instalments until September 30th, 2024.
CHF 200,000 Start-Up Loan at an interest rate of 3% per annum. The loan was taken out on March 20th, 2021. CHF 50,000 is to be repaid in Q1 2024, CHF 100,000 is to be repaid in Q3 2025 and CHF 50,000 is to be repaid on March 31st, 2026.
EUR 272,400 loan at an interest rate of 5% per annum. The loan was taken out on January 1st, 2021. Repayment will start in equal instalments yearly from October 31st, 2023 until October 31st, 2026.
USD 500,000 loan at an interest rate of 4.5% per annum. The loan was taken out on October 7th 2021. Repayment will start in equal instalments from 2023 until March 14, 2025.
The funds raised from this investment round will not be used to repay these loans.
FX Rates
Please note that all direct investment was taken in Swiss Francs (CHF) and will be converted to EUR for the duration of this campaign at a rate of 0.975 CHF = 1 EUR.
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