Acumen Raises $250 Million to Bring Clean Energy Access to Underserved Markets – ESG Today

Impression investor Acumen introduced that it has raised $250 million in blended capital via its “Hardest-to-Attain Initiative” (H2R), aimed toward increasing clear power entry throughout sub-Saharan Africa.

Launched on the COP28 local weather convention in 2023 with a $65 million anchor funding by the Inexperienced Local weather Fund, H2R brings collectively public, non-public, and philanthropic capital to increase clear and reasonably priced power entry to low-income communities residing past the grid in sub-Saharan Africa.

In accordance with Acumen, H2R goals to succeed in almost 70 million individuals throughout underserved geographies in sub-Saharan Africa, together with 50 million first-time power customers, throughout 17 nations, and expects to keep away from 4 million tonnes of CO2 emissions.

The H2R initiative encompasses two complementary methods, together with Catalyze, which makes use of a tailor-made mixture of fairness, debt, and grants to supply catalytic capital, and Amplify, a debt fund designed to assist corporations deepen their attain inside H2R markets and supply bigger ticket sizes to scale-up supply.

The brand new announcement consists of the ultimate shut of Amplify at $180 million, with a brand new $7.8 million dedication from the Swiss Company for Improvement, in addition to $18 million in complementary grant capital to supply impact-based rewards to debtors.

Jiwoo Choi, Chief of Strategic Initiatives and Head of the H2R Initiative at Acumen, mentioned:

“Over the previous two years, we introduced collectively companions who aligned behind one objective: to unlock power entry to essentially the most distant and susceptible areas. Shifting from an introduced technique to completely dedicated capital provides us the inspiration to hold this work ahead with readability and function.”