Okra Solar raises $12m led by At One Ventures

Okra Solar recently completed a Series A financing round, securing over $12 million in both debt and equity to expand its mesh-grid technology.

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Okra Solar recently completed a Series A financing round, securing over $12 million in both debt and equity to expand its mesh-grid technology. Of this amount, $7.85 million was raised in equity, led by At One Ventures and supported by FMO, Susquehanna Private Equity Investments, Autodesk Foundation, and King Philanthropies. The debt financing was contributed by EDFi.

Mesh-grids enable solar power to be generated at the source of individual homes. Excess power is then redistributed by Okra’s smart algorithms from one connection to the next to optimise utilisation. What sets mesh-grids apart from traditional mini-grids or grid extensions is that power doesn't travel long distances from a centralised generation house; instead, it only travels between neighbouring houses. This hyper-decentralised approach reduces distribution costs (cables and poles) by up to 90%, while maximising uptime and power availability.

“With the compounding effects of population growth and growing industrialisation, energy consumption on the African continent will increase disproportionately in the coming decades. The IEA forecasts that total power generation capacity in Africa is expected to double to 510 GW by 2030. There is no reason for this new power generation capacity to come from dirty fossil fuel power. We can skip that phase entirely and build it correctly from the start – clean, renewable, and suited to the needs of this market,” notes Helen Lin, partner, At One Ventures.

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