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MPower

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MPower is a start-up that provides small- and medium-scale solar energy solutions in emerging markets.

141%
 - 
Funded 23 Jan 2023
€550,000 target
€778,696 from 524 investors
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Business overview

Location Zurich, Switzerland
Social media
Website www.mpower.africa/
Sectors Energy Mixed Digital/Non-Digital Mixed B2B/B2C
Company number CHE-452.912.844
Incorporation date 13 Dec 2017
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Investment summary

Type Equity
Valuation (pre-money) €7.2M
Equity offered 9.77%
Tax relief N/A
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Business highlights

  • Estimated sales of EUR 1.6m in 2022*; > 20 B2B partners secured
  • First country EBITDA positive (Zambia)
  • Term sheet for a USD 2m debt facility for Southern Africa secured
  • Backed by InnoEnergy, Techn. Fund, responsAbility and South Pole
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Key features

  • Secondary Market
  • Seedrs nominee min. €10.12 +
  • Direct investment min. €75,000.00 +

Idea

Introduction

Our B2B platform offers a 360° solution providing solar energy and a variety of cleantech and solar appliances at an affordable cost. Over 500m people in Sub-Saharan Africa lack access to electricity, and many are connected to unreliable grids. Solar and storage technologies have become the preferred power source. However, several challenges inhibit growth in the market:

*based on unaudited management accounts.


• Lack of affordable financing solutions for end-customers
• Unavailability of quality solutions and efficient appliances
• Inefficient operations due to an absence of digital tools
• Expensive capital for solar companies and low inventory levels


Our 360° solution combines cost-effective, high-quality solar products with affordable financing for our end users and B2B partners, and we provide in-house software solutions to help our distributors optimize their operations.

Thanks to our finance partners and our transparent credit scoring model, we can provide low interest rates at favorable terms for the end user.

Substantial accomplishments to date

Business accomplishments up until today:

• Revenue 2021: EUR 1.15M

• Diverse team of 32 people with local operations in Zambia, Togo, Cameroon, Namibia and Ghana

• First EBITDA-positive country (Zambia)

• Realised projects/partnerships include UNDP, UNESCO, MTN, Barry Callebaut, Prospero & EDC

• Renowned existing shareholder base and investors: South Pole, Innovationsfonds (Alternative Bank Schweiz), InnoEnergy, and some of the leading angel investors

• Supported by leading stakeholders: ResponsAbility (TA Facility), SIMA, the Technology Fund (debt), Google for Startups' Advisor program for SDG startups

• Term sheet for a USD 2M debt facility for Southern Africa secured & an additional USD 2M for West Africa is in negotiation


Impact accomplishments up until today:

• 1.8M tons of CO2 emissions avoided
• 101k people are benefiting from clean power
• More than 57k end-users with a consumer finance solution
• 677 MWh produced

Monetisation strategy

We have spent the last four years building a B2B platform to deliver solar energy and cleantech products to Africans living in hard-to-reach and peri-urban areas. We have already sold over 30,000 units in seven Sub-Saharan African countries and have built the infrastructure to scale further. We offer products ranging from solar panels, batteries, plug & play devices and productive use appliances (such as solar run irrigation pumps), just to name a few.

We currently generate income from two sources:

• The bulk of our revenues currently comes from hardware sales to our local B2B partners, resulting in a 34% margin.*

• Financing activities are also contributing to the topline with a target net spread of 1% per month (after cost of capital, OpEx and defaults).*

*based on unaudited management accounts.


In parallel, we are currently working on monetizing carbon credits through our partnership with South Pole. Based on our estimations, this will increase our yearly revenue.

Use of proceeds

The funds from the pre-series A equity raise will primarily be used for market expansion and technology development:


• Scale-up operations in Zambia, Togo, Cameroon & Namibia

• Markets expansion: Ghana, Ivory Coast & Botswana

• Technology development: Software, embedded systems, IoT


We expect to raise our Series A investment in late 2023–2024 to realize our growth objectives and benefit our end users, B2B partners and investors. At that point, we aim to be profitable and one of the only B2B2C platforms of its type and scale in Africa.

Key Information

Share Class

All investors in this round will receive Preferred A Shares, please find information concerning share classes below:

• Preferred A Shares:

☉ Senior 1x non-participating preference (see further below).
☉ Voting rights
☉ Dividend rights
☉ Broad based weighted average anti-dilution, with a valuation floor of CHF 5m

• Preferred Seed Shares

☉ Junior 1x non-participating preference (see further below).
☉ Voting rights
☉ Dividend rights

• Ordinary Shares

☉ Capital distribution rights out of any proceeds left over after the Senior and Junior preferences above have been satisfied
☉ Voting rights
☉ Dividend rights

Preference:

• On the Company’s liquidation, sale, reorganisation, IPO, merger or change of control, the Preferred A Shareholders and Preferred Seed Shareholders will receive the following out of the distributable proceeds:

☉(i) First, the Preferred A Shareholders will receive the higher of:

■ The value of their original investment, less any distributions (dividends etc); and

■ The amount payable if the capital distribution was divided equally between all shareholders

☉ (ii) Second, once (i) above has been satisfied, the Preferred Seed Shareholders will receive the higher of:

■ The value of their original investment, less any distributions (dividends etc); and

■ The amount payable if the capital distribution was divided equally between all shareholders

☉ (iii) Lastly, once (i) and (ii) have been satisfied in full, any remaining proceeds will be distributed equally to the Ordinary Shareholders

Group Structure

Investors in this round are investing in and will become shareholders of MPower Ventures AG (Switzerland). This is the holding company for the following subsidiaries:

• MPower Zambia
• MPower Togo
• MPower Namibia
• MPower Cameroon
• MPower Spain

Debt

The company has the following outstanding loans:

CHF 375,000 loan at an interest rate of 1.63% per annum. The loan was taken out on June 5th, 2019 and is to be repaid on February 12th, 2027.

CHF 375,000 loan at an interest rate of 1.43% per annum. The loan was taken out on October 1st, 2019. CHF 150,000 will be repaid on May 14, 2023, and CHF 225,000 will be repaid on February 12th, 2027.

CHF 375,000 loan at an interest rate of 1.45% per annum. The loan was taken out on May 2th0, 2020 and is to be repaid on February 12th, 2027.

CHF 375,000 loan at an interest rate of 1.35% per annum. The loan was taken out on September 24th, 2020. CHF 150,000 is to be repaid on November 1st 2023 and CHF 225,000 is to be repaid on February 12th, 2027.

CHF 45,182 Covid19 loan at an interest rate of 0% per annum. The loan was taken out on March 27th, 2020 and is to be repaid in equal instalments quarterly until March 27th, 2025.

CHF 75,000 Covid19 loan at an interest rate of 0.5% per annum. The loan was taken out on March 1st, 2021 and is to be repaid in yearly instalments until September 30th, 2024.

CHF 200,000 Start-Up Loan at an interest rate of 3% per annum. The loan was taken out on March 20th, 2021. CHF 50,000 is to be repaid in Q1 2024, CHF 100,000 is to be repaid in Q3 2025 and CHF 50,000 is to be repaid on March 31st, 2026.

EUR 272,400 loan at an interest rate of 5% per annum. The loan was taken out on January 1st, 2021. Repayment will start in equal instalments yearly from October 31st, 2023 until October 31st, 2026.

USD 500,000 loan at an interest rate of 4.5% per annum. The loan was taken out on October 7th 2021. Repayment will start in equal instalments from 2023 until March 14, 2025.

The funds raised from this investment round will not be used to repay these loans.

FX Rates

Please note that all direct investment was taken in Swiss Francs (CHF) and will be converted to EUR for the duration of this campaign at a rate of 0.975 CHF = 1 EUR.

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If you successfully purchase a share lot of this business, you will be granted access.

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Only shareholders can access this page

If you successfully purchase a share lot of this business, you will be granted access.

Buy shares

Only shareholders can access this page

If you successfully purchase a share lot of this business, you will be granted access.

Buy shares

Investing involves risks, including loss of capital, illiquidity, lack of dividends and dilution, and should be done only as part of a diversified portfolio. Please read the Risk Warnings before investing. Investments should only be made by investors who understand these risks. Tax treatment depends on individual circumstances and is subject to change in future.

This webpage has been approved as a financial promotion by Seedrs Limited ("Seedrs"), which is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority. It is not intended to be a promotion of any individual investment opportunity and is not an offer to the public. The summary information provided about investment opportunities on this webpage is intended solely to demonstrate the types of investments available on the Seedrs platform, and any investment decision should be made on the basis of the full campaign. Full campaigns are available to investors who have become authorised to invest on the Seedrs platform. All investment activities take place within the United Kingdom, and any person resident outside the United Kingdom should ensure that they are not subject to any local regulations before investing.

Seedrs does not make investment recommendations to you. No communications from Seedrs, through this website or any other medium, should be construed as an investment recommendation. Further, nothing on this website shall be considered an offer to sell, or a solicitation of an offer to buy, any security to any person in any jurisdiction to whom or in which such offer, solicitation or sale is unlawful. Seedrs does not provide legal, financial or tax advice of any kind. If you have any questions with respect to legal, financial or tax matters relevant to your interactions with Seedrs, you should consult a professional adviser.

Tax Relief (SEIS)

This business is eligible for SEIS relief - providing qualifying investors with income tax relief of 50% of their investment and certain other tax reliefs. Tax treatment depends on individual circumstances and is subject to change in future. Click to learn more.

Tax Relief (EIS)

This business is eligible for EIS relief - providing qualifying investors with income tax relief of 30% of their investment and certain other tax reliefs. Tax treatment depends on individual circumstances and is subject to change in future. Click to learn more.

Valuation (pre-money)

Valuation rounded from €7,177,559

This is the fully-diluted pre-money valuation of the business (i.e. before the new investment comes in and including issued options and other equity interests). In contrast, the post-money valuation is based on inclusion of the new investment in the value.

It is calculated as the pre-money valuation plus the amount of new investment. e.g. If Company A is ascribed a pre-money valuation of £1,200,000 by prospective investors investing £300,000, its post-money valuation is £1,500,000.

The investee business is responsible for setting its own valuation, it has not been prescribed by Seedrs.

Pitch type

There are 5 types of investment pitch available on Seedrs.

  • Equity
  • Convertible
  • Fund
  • Cohort
  • Secondary

Investing in a regular equity campaign is the simplest and most common way to invest in a startup. You decide which business you want to invest in, and if the campaign hits its funding target then you will become one of their shareholders. As the company becomes more valuable, so do your shares; allowing you the opportunity to share in the future success of the business.

Learn more about pitch type on Seedrs

Equity Offered

The equity offered is the percentage of the company’s shares being issued in return for the amount of investment raised.

When the amount raised is less than 100%, the equity offered is based on the target raise. Once the company has raised over 100% it is based on the total raised.

In some scenarios, entrepreneurs may accept additional direct investment after closing their Seedrs campaign. Provided this is within 6 months of the closing and on the same terms, we do not typically offer pre-emption rights on that extra investment (where you have the opportunity to invest again to maintain your percentage shareholding).

Learn more about investing and pre-emption rights.

Seedrs nominee

This shows if you are able to choose, when making an investment, that you be represented by, and your shareholding be managed by, the Seedrs nominee.

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Custodian

If you invest in this Campaign, Seedrs will act as Custodian rather than provide our standard nominee service. This is due to the fact that the business is not directly involved in the share sale and Seedrs will not benefit from any rights under a shareholder agreement. As a result, Seedrs will handle administrative tasks as we do normally, but you will not have information or voting rights, updates from the business, preemption on future fundraising, or ongoing support about business trading activity.

Learn more about Custodian here

Secondary market

This shows if the business has opted-in or opted-out of allowing its shares to be bought and sold on the secondary market.

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Direct investment

This is an option to invest and hold shares 'directly' in the company (rather than via the Seedrs Nominee). This option is only available to those investing over the threshold amount, which is determined by the fundraising company.

If you choose to hold your shares directly, you will be responsible for any contractual or administrative arrangements with the company you are investing in.

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Payment options

We are not able to accept card payments for investments into this sector. You can pay for your investment by creating a bank transfer, using funds in your investment account or create a Pay by Bank payment. Your investment will only be completed once the funds have reached our account.

Business Involvement

This Campaign offers shares for sale in business that is not directly involved in this Campaign or the sale. As a result, the Campaign and post-investment experience, including investor rights, will differ from a business-led campaign on Seedrs. Most notably, the business will not engage with investors in the discussion forums both during and after the sale or provide any updates to investors.

Learn more here

Payment options

We are not able to accept Pay by Bank payments for investments into this sector. You can pay for your investment with a card payment, by creating a bank transfer or by using funds in your investment account. Your investment will only be completed once the funds have reached our account.

Drawdowns

This campaign offers the ability to pay for an investment by drawdowns.

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