FAQ

In a nutshell, we are a fundraising partners to developers who build minigrids for communities. Along with our platform which is a marketplace for our pool of investors to invest in projects, we also work with other partners to support projects that make real social and environmental impacts depending on their support objectives

At CnergyFund, we believe achieving SDG 7 (affordable and clean energy) can be a catalyst to achieving other SDG’s; SDG 1 (No poverty), SDG 3 (good health and wellbeing), SDG 4 (Quality education), SDG 8 (Decent work and economic growth) and SDG 13 (climate action).

Since we understand that community based minigrids are not so interesting to developers as much as electricity that service single entity (school, industrial facility, university campus or hospital), we want to help developers raise funds for minigrids that benefits multiple entities. We believe social impact has to be inclusive, providing clean energy to an industrial facility still does not include households or artisans (tailors, welders) who also drive the economies of local communities that improves livelihoods.

We are not just a crowdfunding platform, we fully want to democratize fundraising for developers, hence we are agnostic on how we help developers raise funds. The platform is a marketplace where our pool of investors can jointly invest in a loan. Meanwhile, we are working with other partners to help reduce the total cost of financing either to cover all or part of the loan interest or an RBF model to subsidize tariffs for the electricity off takers in the communities. Here, we consider the demographics of the communities and tailor the best fundraising solution to the developers

We do the hard work through the due diligence process to evaluate the projects based on feasibility and ability to payback loan to investors over the years. Before we present such loans on our platform and to other backers, we analyze and provide key financial metrics and expected measurable social impacts in such community. Our role is to present only viable projects to investors that can yield financial returns while making social and environmental impacts.

The duration of the proposed investments is typically between 3-10 years. The loan is amortized over the term while the investment gives rise to interest which are reimbursed (principal + interest) to investors at predefined frequency. See our investment calculator for an overview.

No. The economic viability of renewable energy minigrid production unit is based on the contract for sale of the energy to users. This ensures future income for the distribution company that gives them the ability to their loan commitments.

Therefore, we are engaging other partners to de-risk this loan repayment commitments to help reduce their overall cost of financing either by taking over the interest part or subsidizing the tariffs for the users. We understand minigrid infrastructure could take up to 15 years to be able to pay back. This will ensure positive cashflow for loan repayments within the 3-10 year tenure.