STOA leads investment in renewable energy company
French infrastructure-focused equity investor STOA and Candi Solar, a clean energy company providing solar power to commercial and industrial (C&I) customers, have announced the closing of Candi’s Series B fundraising. STOA’s investment will allow Candi to finance new solar projects in India and Africa, particularly South Africa, with the aim to reach 800 MWp of solar capacity installed by 2028.
In this financing round, STOA has been joined by the Energy Entrepreneurs Growth Fund and most existing shareholders, notably the renewable energy specialist Gaia Impact Fund.
Candi has already contracted 40 MWp of solar capacity in India and South Africa and has demonstrated its ability to build a scalable platform that offers tailored solutions to its customers. The company has developed unique contractual and financial innovations to allow customers who have been historically underserved by the solar market, notably small and medium sized enterprises, to generate their power from cleaner and more reliable energy.
Commenting on the transaction, Marie-Laure Mazaud, CEO of STOA noted, “This investment confirms STOA’s appetite for the distributed solar sector, i.e. small-size solar power plants located close to the customers, which are by nature quick to install and fit-for-purpose. STOA’s conviction is that the deployment of behind-the-meter solutions is as important as the installation of traditional utility-scale projects, in our common goal to reach a democratisation of renewable energy and ultimately fight climate change. In addition, we have been impressed by the founders’ capacity to build a world-class international team able to constantly remain at the forefront of new technical, financial and contractual solutions to keep pace with the evolving market for distributed power generation and are thrilled to engage in this journey with them.”
Fabio Eucalipto, finance director at Candi added, “Earlier this year we selected STOA as lead investor in our Series B. Today, after a smooth process run by a highly skilled investment team, 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. We would also like to extend our thanks to our existing stakeholders for their strong ongoing support. The closing of this round catapults our company into the next stage of growth which foresees investing more than US$100 million into solar assets by 2024.”
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