Apis Growth Fund I Fully Exits Position in Sun King

London, 9th January 2023 – Apis Growth Fund I (“the Fund”), a private equity fund managed by Apis Partners LLP (“Apis Partners”), a UK-based asset manager that supports growth stage financial services and financial infrastructure businesses, has fully exited its remaining position in off-grid solar energy company Sun King, formerly Greenlight Planet (the “Company”). This follows the announcement on 27^th April 2022, in which the Fund divested a partial stake in the Company.

Greenlight Planet has announced a US$70 million Series D extension capital raise, with the investment round being led by Leapfrog. As part of this transaction, the Fund divested its remaining stake in the Company.

Greenlight Planet is leading a transformation in how power is provided across Africa and Asia, where 1.8 billion people still lack access to a reliable electrical grid. To date, Greenlight Planet has powered the lives of 95 million people across 40 countries. The company’s off-grid solar home systems power lights, mobile phones, radios and larger home appliances and are dramatically more affordable and sustainable than kerosene or new power lines, allowing customers to leapfrog electrical grids and fossil-fuel energy sources entirely, while reducing CO2 emissions by more than 24 million tonnes to date.
Today, Greenlight Planet operates the world’s largest direct-to-consumer, pay-as-you-go (PAYG) solar distribution network, growing at a rate of 165,000 new clients per month across seven countries.

The Fund initially invested in Greenlight Planet/Sun King in 2017. Since then, the company has grown over five times, with annualised revenue now exceeding US$200 million, serving over 95 million clients in rural areas across Kenya, Nigeria, India, Uganda, Tanzania, as well as Mozambique, Togo and Cameroon, three countries it recently expanded into. Over the investment period, Apis has leveraged its extensive experience in global financial services, to assist Sun King in developing new products and geographical expansion.

Matteo Stefanel, Co-founder and Managing Partner at Apis Partners, commented: “We are delighted to have supported the company over its rapid growth phase over the last 5 years, delivering attractive financial returns for our investors as well as a lasting and wide-ranging social and environmental impact on the communities we serve. The investment by high-quality investors such as Leapfrog and BeyondNetZero will further propel the company’s growth, as it embarks on this next phase of growth.”

Udayan Goyal, Co-founder and Managing Partner at Apis Partners, continued: “It has been a pleasure to work with Patrick, Anish and the team as they have grown Sun King into the world’s largest direct-to-consumer, pay-as-you-go (PAYG) solar distribution network. We are proud to have been part of the Sun King journey, as it created value in a sustainable way, delivering on our twin-goals of financial returns and social impact”.

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About Apis Partners
The Apis Group (“Apis”) is an ESGI-native global private equity and venture capital asset manager that supports growth-stage financial services and financial infrastructure businesses by providing them with catalytic growth equity capital. Collectively Apis, through its team of approximately 40 professionals with deep industry expertise, Apis collectively manages or advises on total committed capital from investors (including drawn and invested capital) of US$1.2 billion. Including its headquarters in London, Apis has representation in eight countries across Europe, Asia, and Africa.
Apis is highly conscious of the developmental impact that the provision of growth capital for financial services and financial infrastructure businesses in growth markets can achieve, and as such, financial inclusion is a core tenet of Apis’ approach and investment mandate. Apis became a signatory to the United Nations backed Principles for Responsible Investment (UNPRI) upon inception of the firm in 2014. https://apis.pe

About Sun King
Sun King is the world’s largest off-grid solar energy company, combining cutting-edge product design, financing, and grassroots field installation to provide energy for the 1.8 billion consumers across Africa and Asia who lack access to reliable electricity. Founded in 2007, Sun King sets the gold standard for off-grid solar performance and design while working towards its mission to power brighter lives. www.sunking.com

Media Contact
Francesca Rossi | francesca.rossi@apis.pe | +44 (0)20 3653 0500