The project

STOA led the series B fundraising of candi solar, a Swiss company that supplies solar electricity to commercial and industrial customers in India and South Africa.

This financing round involving several institutional investors and European impact funds is testimony to the company’s strong growth momentum and will enable candi to strengthen its activities in India and South Africa and to consider opening to other African markets.

What’s at stake?

Making electricity generation less carbon intensive and more accessible

By setting up operations in countries with a particularly carbon-intensive electricity mix, candi is able to limit greenhouse gas emissions from commercial and industrial activities.

India, for example, is the world’s third highest carbon emitter, with 75% of its electricity generation coming from coal. In the case of South Africa, this proportion reaches 85% (IEA, 2020).

These countries are also experiencing an unprecedented electricity supply crisis, with prices increasing relentlessly (8-fold in South Africa over the last 15 years), a trend that is not likely to be reversed given the post-Covid and Ukraine war-related economic crisis and the rising price of fossil fuels.

Candi thus provides its customers with savings in terms of CO₂ emissions and costs, allowing them to have access to clean energy that is now usually cheaper than the national grid.

It is estimated that the systems installed by candi could save an average of 250,000 tonnes of CO₂ equivalent per year over the next 6 years, by which time the company aims to have installed a total of 800 megawatts of solar energy.

Targeting new markets

Thanks to financial and contractual engineering that is at the heart of the company’s value creation, candi is able to address a client segment that is neglected by the market, namely SMEs, while guaranteeing balanced credit risk management.

By its positioning, candi distinguishes itself from most of its competitors and assumes its role as a pioneer in making solar energy accessible to players who do not find financing solutions in the traditional banking sector.

At the same time, candi has demonstrated its ability to scale up by developing digital solutions to streamline its operations and maintenance of installations, which promises strong growth prospects for the coming years, and gives confidence in the company’s ability to replicate the model in other countries in Southern and East Africa.

Promoting gender equality in employment

Candi is also committed to promoting the employment of women in the energy sector with the objective of reaching a 40% share of women in its workforce in the medium term (end 2023).

By addressing gender inequalities in this sector, Candi aims to meet the criteria of the 2X Challenge launched by the main development institutions.

Expected results

• 800 MW of solar capacity deployed by 2028
• 250,000 T CO₂-eq. avoided per year

Scores impact du projet

“Earlier this year we selected STOA as lead investor in our Series B. Today, after a smooth investment process, we warmly welcome them as a shareholder. In STOA, we found a partner that not only shares our values but is also strongly aligned with our company’s purpose of powering a more sustainable planet, one rooftop at a time. Thanks also to the strong ongoing support of our existing stakeholders, the closing of this round catapults our company into the next stage of growth which foresees investing more than USD 100 million into solar assets by 2024.”

Fabio Eucalipto, cofounder and CFO – candi solar