Spark, a Dutch B2B provider of modular solar home systems, has raised €2 million ($2.3 million) in a seed round led by CEI Africa, a development-finance fund focused on energy access in sub-Saharan Africa. The Breda-based company will use the capital to build financing tools for its distribution partners and launch the first phases of two programmes, Spark Catalyse and Spark Connect.
Founded in 2013, Spark supplies local distributors in more than 23 countries with plug-and-play solar kits, pay-as-you-go technology, and a digital management portal — it does not sell directly to households. The company says it has reached about 2 million people in markets including the Democratic Republic of Congo, Nigeria, and Madagascar.
Its modular design lets customers start with a basic system and add components over time, cutting upfront cost. Spark also runs Spark Invest, which offers payment terms to distributors, and has tested crowdfunding for partners.
Managing director Marcel van Heist said progress toward universal energy access is "increasingly off track," but that the World Bank's Mission 300 programme — aiming to connect 300 million people in Africa by 2030 — was creating new opportunities.
CEI Africa was set up in 2021 by KfW on behalf of the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development, with the Swiss Development Cooperation joining in 2022. Steven Evers, CEO of fund manager Triple Jump, said Spark's modular design could make energy "more accessible while strengthening the commercial viability of last-mile distribution."
Spark's model shifts customer acquisition and last-mile service costs to local partners, reducing some operational risk but increasing its dependence on those partners' access to working capital. Currency volatility and high local borrowing costs remain constraints in several of its largest markets.
The company did not disclose whether the investment was equity, debt, or convertible, nor did it share revenue or profitability figures.
At €2 million, the round is small — it sits in roughly the 34th percentile by amount — but it points to development-finance capital targeting distribution and working-capital gaps in off-grid solar, not just consumer receivables. If Spark Catalyse and Spark Connect gain traction, they could help distributors hold inventory and extend credit, potentially drawing further development finance and commercial lending.