Opportunities
Deadline
- Deadline: 30.04.2025
- Target Area: Ghana, Kenya, Malawi, Mozambique, or Tanzania
Empowering Sustainable Entrepreneurship in Africa 2025 is Phase Two of an initiative to strengthen climate innovation across Ghana, Kenya, Malawi, Mozambique, and Tanzania.
The program is designed to help startups identify early milestones and prepare for their next round of capital or expansion plans (if relevant). In short, through virtual workshops, we deliver a targeted, award-winning curriculum and provide countless connections to prepare startups for growth.
- Deadline: 05.05.2025
- ***NEW***
- Deadline: 05.05.2025
- Target Area: Kenya, Malawi, Mozambique, Nigeria, Brazil (new)
The 7th edition has an endowment of 1 million euros to invest in sustainable and clean energy projects, which helps to alleviate energy poverty on our planet. Organizations may apply for co-funding from 50.000 euros to 150.000 euros, covering up to 75% of the project costs of non-profit entities and up to 50% of the project costs of for-profit entities.
- Deadline: 16.05.2025
The aim of the Digital Energy Challenge is to support the development of innovative solutions for increased energy access, to facilitate the integration of renewable energies and to improve energy operators’ performance.
For the 2025 edition, the Challenge will award 3 to 4 Start-up projects and one Technology Provider who will partner with the identified energy utility in Senegal, Senelec. A total budget of €1M will enable grant-based funding, technical assistance and strategic guidance.
- ***NEW***
- Deadline: 16.05.2025
This year the programme will engage up to 80 African students, with at least 50% women, and almost 500 alumni in a series of professional development and leadership activities provided in partnership with top academic institutions in Italy and Africa.
- ***NEW***
- Deadline: 23.05.2025
- Target Area: Brazil, South Africa, Morocco, Tunisia, Kenya, Nigeria, Ethiopia, and Tanzania.
The initiative aims to accelerate global climate action and uptake of clean energy models, building on the success of Phase I. The second phase was kicked off with the launch of a call for pilot projects on digitalisation for flexible and resilient energy systems targeting eight countries – Brazil, South Africa, Morocco, Tunisia, Kenya, Nigeria, Ethiopia, and Tanzania.
- ***NEW ROUND***
- Deadline: 04.06.2025
Our two advisory facilities are open year-round to accommodate your request:
- The GET.invest Finance Catalyst provides bespoke advisory support to later-stage clean energy projects and companies through a team of independent experts
- The GET.invest Finance Readiness Support exclusively assists early-stage, locally-owned and managed companies in becoming ready for their first formal investment
Open end
This year, thanks to funding from Good Energies, 60 Decibels is offering 10 fully subsidised customer insights and impact measurement studies. You are eligible for consideration if your company is delivering energy products/services directly to end-users and is also locally-owned and/or women-led.
The African Startup Awards connects the best of African tech startups across the continent to a global network of leading investors and innovation ecosystems. The African Startup Awards will offer startups access to: New Markets, Funding Opportunities, A Global Network Of Leaders and Exposure On A Global Stage
- Target Area: Democratic Republic of Congo, Ethiopia, Kenya, Nigeria, Sierra Leone and Uganda
- Sector: Off-grid, mini-grid, and grid-connected (utility)
The facility operates across the off-grid, mini-grid, and grid-connected (utility) sectors. CLASP and Nithio identified six appliance technologies based on their relative maturity and potential to drive development impact – walk-in cold rooms, refrigerators, electric cookers, fans, mills, and solar water pumps.
Facility operations will also generate a foundational data set on appliance market activity and the developmental impacts of appliances, improving our collective knowledge base on appliance performance, national markets, and consumer experience and satisfaction.
- Target Area: Tanzania
Are you an innovator, entrepreneur, NGOs, Entrepreneurship Support Organisation, investor, or governmental organisation passionate about making a positive impact in the face of climate change? We invite you to join the Adaptation Innovation Cluster in Tanzania and be at the forefront of building a resilient future for our communities.
- Target Area: Kenya, Uganda, DRC, Cameroon, Sierra Leone, Madagascar, Mali and Benin
- Sector: PUE
CEI Africa invites green mini-grid developers to apply for outcome-based grants that subsidize the implementation of PUE strategies connected to operating GMGs in the target countries: Kenya, Uganda, DRC, Cameroon, Sierra Leone, Madagascar, Mali and Benin. Partnerships with PUE providers, distributors, and manufacturers are encouraged. CEI Africa anticipates launching the official call for pre-qualification in the 8 countries on 5th September 2023.
- Target Area: Africa
- Sector: Women-led energy businesses
OPEN will invest up to $100,000 in women-led businesses within the energy sector in Africa, growing their business by providing access to funds and expertise to maximise their impact and profitability.
We are looking for women-led businesses in the Energy sector with an annual turnover of more than 25,000USD per year and with at least 3 employees.
- Target Area: Uganda
Working in partnership with Participating Financial Institutions (PFIs), UECCC has put in place a loan programme that enables households and commercial enterprises acquire solar systems on credit.
The objective of the programme is to address the affordability barrier posed by the initial upfront cost of acquiring solar systems.
We invest equity, convertible debt, and debt in early and growth-stage businesses that provide climate-smart solutions, and demonstrate sustainable competitive advantage, good management, and ethical business practices in agribusiness, commercial forestry, renewable energy, water, and waste management.
We seek to maximize inclusive impact through commercially sustainable SMEs.
For Early Stage Businesses, we provide US$ 50,000 – US$ 200,000 in debt, convertible debt, and /or equity, business growth support for max. 7 years tenure.
For Growth Stage Businesses, we provide US$ 100,000 – US$ 1 million in debt, convertible debt and /or equity, business growth support for max. 7 years tenure.
- Target Area: Sub-Saharan Africa
- Sector: Cooking
Spark+ Africa Fund is a $70 million impact investment fund that invests in scalable, next-generation companies offering clean, modern distributed energy solutions for cooking to the mass market in sub-Saharan Africa.
It is a true “triple bottom line” impact fund, financing profitable and scalable companies tapping into a massive total addressable market for cooking energy solutions and enabling millions of African families to stay safe and healthy and save time and money.
- Target Area: Developing countries + emerging markets
- Sector: SMEs in the FinTech Sector, or with embedded finance components, or in the GreenTech Sector, registered in a developing country or emerging market
DEG provides funding of 500,000 to 749,000 EUR, which constitutes a maximum of 50% of the total investment volume. Private sponsors must contribute a substantial share of equity (at least 25% of total investment volume). DEG’s funds must be repaid in the event of success of the company (depending on pre-defined financial criteria such revenue or profit).
- Target Area: Partner countries of BMZ in Africa and/or Asia
- Sector: Agriculture, energy access and/or digitalisation
Innovations that have already been tested in a specific environment and / or on a limited scale but are not yet utilized by our target group. Limited funding for testing and verifying innovative ideas (proof-of-concept).
- Target Area: Low carbon frontier markets in Asia or Africa
- Sector: Fund managers and DevCos
SCAF provides financial support on a cost-sharing and co-financing basis via private equity funds, venture capital funds and project development companies through its three Support Lines. SCAF does not support individual projects on a one-off basis.
- Target Area: Madagascar
- Sector: Companies and institutions involved in the distribution of solar products
OMDF or the Off-Grid Market Development Fund provides financing to companies and institutions involved in the distribution of solar products (pico-solar products and solar home system kits) with the mission of accelerating access to sustainable electricity in Madagascar.