SunFunder raises $42.5m

The Nairobi, Kenya-based solar energy finance company holds initial close for its largest and longest fund.

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SunFunder‘s Solar Energy Transformation (SET) Fund has held a first close at $42.5 million. The fund, which has a target of $85 million, provides debt financing options for high impact solar energy projects and companies in emerging markets across Africa and Asia. It is the firm’s largest fund and its longest, with a nine-year life.

Anchor investors in the fund are the Overseas Private Investment Corporation, which committed $25 million to the senior and junior tranche, Calvert Impact Capital ($7.5 million to the senior tranche), Ceniarth ($5 million to the senior tranche), and the IKEA Foundation ($5 million of catalytic capital).