Yellow, a South African-based asset financier for solar energy and digital device assets, has raised US $14 million in Series B funding to expand its presence in its current markets.
Yellow, a company founded in 2018 by Mike Heyink and Maya Stewart, focuses on providing low-income rural households with the last-mile distribution of affordable “pay as you go” (PAYG) solar home systems. It has grown throughout the continent and expanded its product line to include smartphones and other digital devices.
Convergence Partners, the Energy Entrepreneurs Growth Fund managed by Triple Jump, and Platform Investment Partners all contributed to the US $14 million funding round for it.
Yellow will use the funds to reach more people in its current markets, including Malawi, Zambia, Madagascar, and Uganda. Additionally, it intends to roll out more financial and digital products, as well as get ready for more debt funding rounds to accelerate its growth.
“The newly injected capital is being used to leverage more debt finance to reach more customers with financed smartphones and solar systems. While the business will broaden its product offering to include other mobile financial services, growth will primarily be driven by deepening our expertise in our existing product categories,” Heyink said.
According to Brandon Doyle, CEO of Convergence Partners, his company has been monitoring the off-grid solar power asset finance market for many years but hasn’t yet found a team or a business model it can support.
“Yellow’s offering also sits well with our promise to our investors of strong investment returns married with solid social development impact; in this case by tackling the triple challenge of financial inclusion, green energy distribution, and broadband penetration, and doing so profitably while servicing the unbanked communities of the lowest income countries of Africa,” he said.
