Bill Gates-backed Arnergy Raises $15M Series B Funding to Drive Nigeria’s Solar Access

News World

Published by Stephen Oluwadara at April 14, 2025

Arnergy’s is Lighting Up Energy Starved Nigeria

Launched in 2013 to provide solar systems to homes and businesses across hospitality, education, finance, agriculture, and healthcare sectors. Nigeria’s solar energy demand has skyrocketed over the past decade due to the country’s unreliable power grid and increasing fuel costs.

The surge in demand for solar systems follows significant policy changes, most notably the removal of Nigeria’s decades-old fuel subsidy in May 2023. The long-debated government move ended its practice of covering the gap between global and local fuel prices.

Since then, petrol prices have jumped nearly 500%. This has also made power generators, once seen as the more affordable alternative to unreliable grid power and solar systems despite environmental hazards, far costlier to run. That power change has now made solar a cost-saving strategy and changed the economics of adoption for the cleantech industry.

Although solar energy is expensive, startups like Arnergy are riding the wave of new adoption to introduce a lease-to-own model. Arnergy’s lease-to-own product, Z Lite, has become the Lagos-based startup’s core focus since its first Series B funding last year.

In 2023, outright purchases generated 60-70% of revenue, but this dropped to 25% last year. Meanwhile, lease-to-own models have become more popular. In these models, customers pay fixed monthly fees over 5-10 years before owning the system.

Founder and CEO Femi Adeyemo emphasizes in a press release seen by UrbanGeekz: “With a nationwide expansion of our innovative zero down payment, rent-to-own, and Energy-As-A-Service models, we are leveraging strategic distribution partnerships to provide a highly reliable alternative to traditional energy sources.”

Charting Nigeria’s Renewable Energy Future

So far, Arnergy has deployed over 1,800 systems across 35 Nigerian states, totaling 9MWp of solar and 23MWh of battery storage. Consequently, the cleantech startup tripled its lease customer base between 2023 and 2024 and expects to increase it 4–5x this year. Its naira revenues have climbed accordingly and are on track to quadruple by the end of the year.

Shirley Somuah of CardinalStone Capital praised Arnergy’s “execution of excellence in a challenging market,” while BII’s Benson Adenuga highlighted the alignment with sustainable development goals. Breakthrough Energy Ventures’ Carmichael Roberts pointed to the company’s potential to “ensure a brighter future for all Nigerians.”

With this funding, Arnergy is poised to install more than 12,000 systems by 2029 using its new funding. The startup will refine its technology offerings and strengthen its position as Nigeria’s renewable energy leader while contributing meaningfully to the nation’s energy transition.

Furthermore, Adeyemo says the Lagos-based cleantech company is in talks to raise additional local debt from banks and DFIs to support these projects, including energy-as-a-service (EaaS) solutions for multinationals.

Main Image: L-R. Dr. Bunmi Adekore, Ph.D., Partner Breakthrough Energy Venture; Bill Gates; Femi Adeyemo, CEO, Arnergy. Photo Credit: Nairametrics