Manchester- and Nairobi-based SteamaCo, a leading technology provider for managing off-grid renewable energy networks in emerging markets, announced that it has completed a £640,000 seed capital round.
SteamaCo offers advanced smart metering in frontier markets. The company was founded in 2010. SteamaCo meters electricity at 37 sites in six countries, serving 10,000 people across Africa and Asia, and 70% of Kenya’s off-grid microgrid market. SteamaCo’s innovative cloud‐based remote metering and payments system automates utility operations and monetises energy use. With around 1.3 billion people globally lacking access to mains electricity, SteamaCo brings modern energy to those who have never had it.
SteamaCo plans to use the funding to expand access to its smart metering and data analytics technology that enables distributed providers of electricity – from mini grid operators to agricultural irrigation businesses – to reach the 1.3 billion people living beyond the grid.
“Not so long ago, Europe and the US worked out how to electrify the countryside. Today, Africa and Asia face a similar challenge. There’s a historic opportunity to get this right, and SteamaCo is a key enabler. We are delighted to be joined by a group of industry leading investors who understand our market and can support us on our mission,” said Harrison Leaf, SteamaCo’s co-founder and chief executive officer.
“Over the last few years, mini grids and productive end use applications, such as water pumps and mills have received less focus and policy support than we would have expected. The key to mini grids to play a bigger part in meeting the energy access challenge in Africa, is the smart and robust metering and control systems which are SteamaCo’s speciality,” Andrew Reicher, one of the investors in SteamaCo and most experienced energy investors in Africa, commented.
