SOLshare bags US$1.1m funding with support from IIX Impact Partners

BANGLADESH-BASED clean energy firm SOLshare has closed a US$1.1 million financing round supported by Singapore-based debt and equity crowdfunding platform IIX Impact Partners.

Investors include innogy New Ventures - the venture capital investment arm of German utility firm innogy SE; EDP Ventures - the investment arm of Portuguese utility firm EDP; as well as new angel investors from around the world.

The funding will be used to bring smart solar microgrids to off-grid, underserved communities in Bangladesh, according to a statement from IIX.

SOLshare is in discussions with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees office in Bangladesh to supply smart solar microgrids in Rohingya refugee camps where more than 800,000 Rohingyas reside.

SOLshare managing director (MD), Sebastian Groh, said: "The SOLshare team had been working on a financing round for many months and Covid-19 was an additional unexpected challenge."

IIX chief investment officer and MD of portfolio management, Robert Kraybill, said: "IIX is thrilled to continue supporting SOLshare, following our 2018 investment through our IIX Growth Fund." He added that over the past decade, IIX has built a highway of support for enterprises across their stages of growth, effectively connecting them to capital markets through Impact Partners.

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IIX supports small and medium enterprises such as SOLshare through its technical assistance programme Assistance for Capacity-Building and Technical Services (ACTS).

ACTS is supported by the Korea International Cooperation Agency and through programmes such as IIX's Equity@Scale - funded by the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade.