Beacon Power Services (BPS), the energy technology business, has secured a seed round for $2.7 million. It offers data and grid management solutions to assist Africa’s power sector distribute electricity more effectively.
Seedstars Africa Ventures spearheaded the company’s seed round, which also included Persistent Energy, Kepple Africa Ventures, Factor[e], and Oridun Capital Management. Maxime Bouan, managing partner at Seedstars Africa Ventures, commented on the investment in the following way: “As a society, we have recognized climate change as one of the biggest threats to our generation, and it is critical we use smart capital to support entrepreneurs across Africa who are creating innovative and locally tailored solutions to tackle this challenge.”
With the additional capital, BPS would be able to enhance its present goods (product upgrades to include additional features and automation) and grow outside of Nigeria and Ghana, where it already operates, into other markets.
After working for a power turbine manufacturer and as an investment banker handling the power sector in the U.S. for many years, the startup’s founder and CEO, aerospace engineer Bimbola Adisa, founded it in 2014.
Electric utilities, service providers, and manufacturers were the majority of his customers for the latter. According to him, these encounters exposed him to the use of technology in the power sector, and he recognized the potential to do so in Nigeria and other countries in Africa.
To overcome the insufficient electricity supply from power distribution firms, Adisa created BPS in 2014.
The utility company, which has offices in the US and Nigeria, offers utilities analytics and software for energy management. Adora, its AI-powered grid management technology, addresses one of the two major issues power distribution firms in Africa face.
The program links to every utility asset and user node on the grid, providing real-time insight into network performance for electric utilities.
This enables the distribution of electricity more effectively while preventing disruptions and identifying network losses.
BFS said the outcome is that utilities can run more profitably, recover more money, and by minimizing interruptions, customers receive more electricity supply (more hours supplied daily), thus everyone benefits.
The company’s patented Customer and Asset Information Management System platform addresses the second issue, which is data-focused (CAIMs).
In Africa, utilities strive to have a complete database of their clients, assets, and grid topology (the relationship between assets and customers).
The CAIMs address this by taking into account the particular constraints that African utilities must work within, such as inadequate address systems, and assisting them in digitizing their data, which lays the groundwork for network expansion.
Additionally, according to Adisa, BPS has expanded from one utility in Nigeria to four utilities serving more than 8 million users in two countries, including Ghana (residential and businesses).
According to Adisa, the business strategy of Beacon Power Services comprises long-term partnerships with its clients rather than merely the sale of goods.
In exchange for service-based payments proportionate to the value it generates, the company can postpone most of the upfront costs associated with implementing its technology.
Techbuild’s Take
For the majority of Africans, access to energy continues to be a major issue. The majority of the energy used in the African continent today is produced using fossil fuels.
Additionally, Africa’s energy possibilities are still not fully utilized. In a time when public funding and private investment are declining, entrepreneurship is essential to the economies of Africa.
A wide range of technologies are becoming available, and for African innovators, business offers significant potential.
Innovators are starting to look for possibilities already. The most effective problem solvers are those with local experts who have chosen technological solutions that are suitable for their communities in particular. Beacon Power Services is one such example and investors are not sleeping on its potential.
The eight-year-old energy utility company claims that one reason it stands out from competing platforms is that it offers regional solutions that take into account the specific operating climate in Africa.
For example, the majority of commercially available solutions developed for developed countries do not take into account the frequency of power interruptions experienced in Africa or the problems with network connections observed there, but Beacon Power Services asserts its solutions have addressed those concerns.
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