Senegal’s eMobility solutions provider and energy startup Solarbox Africa on Thursday announced the closing of its $1m Pre-Seed round.
The funding was led by early-stage investors Digital Energy Facility (a collaborative initiative led by Agence Française de Développement, IetP and Gaia Impact Fund), Launch Africa, JLL Foundation as well as Teranga Capital.
The company said in a statement that the funding will enable it to satisfy massive demand for its solutions in Senegal and neighbouring regions.
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 Africa partnered with industry leaders across Senegal, including 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.
Senegal imports $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 $2.50 for 100km of driving relative to up to $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 tons of carbon emissions equivalent per year, and contributing to climate resiliency in the Sahel.
“In less than a year, Solarbox Africa 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, said “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 $40 billion annually, switching to solar powered electric mobility might just be a winning proposition.
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