Odyssey Energy Solutions has raised $74mn to expand financing and procurement for distributed renewable-energy projects across Africa and other emerging markets, betting that a shortage of working capital for smaller developers is becoming a key constraint on the continent’s clean-energy build-out.
The Boulder, Colorado-based company said on Tuesday that the funding comprised $27mn in equity and $47mn in debt. New equity investors include Broadscale Group, FMO and Al Mada Ventures, alongside existing backers including Union Square Ventures, Equal Ventures, Abstract Ventures, Twelve Below, FJ Labs, MCJ and Transition Ventures.
Debt financing came from British International Investment, BIO, the Facility for Energy Inclusion, represented by Cygnum Capital, and the Energy Entrepreneurs Growth Fund, represented by TripleJump.
Odyssey connects more than 6,000 solar installers and engineering, procurement and construction companies with financiers and equipment suppliers across more than 50 countries, with a particular focus on Africa, Asia and Latin America. The company says its platform has facilitated access to $3.6bn in capital for distributed energy projects.
The fundraising comes as African businesses and households increasingly turn to distributed solar and storage to compensate for unreliable or inadequate grid infrastructure. At the same time, higher fossil-fuel costs are improving the economics of renewable alternatives.
“The focus of financing for distributed renewable energy has historically been on post-construction capital — funding that flows once a project is built,” said Emily McAteer, Odyssey’s co-founder and chief executive.
“That has left a significant gap upstream, where thousands of small and medium EPCs and installers lack the working capital needed to procure equipment, complete construction, and unlock customer payments.”
The financing gap is particularly significant in markets where diesel generators remain an important source of backup power. In Nigeria, diesel generators supply more electricity than grid-connected power plants, according to the International Finance Corporation. Diesel prices rose more than 93 per cent between February and April 2026 following supply disruptions linked to the Strait of Hormuz, according to figures cited by Odyssey.
Odyssey’s strategy is to provide financing before projects are completed, allowing smaller installers to purchase equipment and undertake construction without waiting for customer payments or post-construction financing.
“Distributed solar in emerging markets has reached a watershed moment,” said Andrew Shapiro, founder and managing partner at Broadscale Group.
“The demand is there, the economics work, and the remaining constraint to deployment at massive scale is access to capital and procurement infrastructure for installers.”
The company launched its procurement platform in 2024, aggregating equipment orders across its network of smaller developers to secure volume pricing and provide embedded supply-chain credit. It says the platform has unlocked 1.5 gigawatts of projects to date.
Commercial and industrial customers are a major source of demand, but installers often cannot take on all the projects in their pipelines because of working-capital constraints. Odyssey’s financing allows them to procure equipment and construct multiple projects simultaneously.
The company is also expanding rapidly outside Africa. In India, its platform grew 205 per cent over the past 12 months, as domestic manufacturing requirements for solar components reshape supply chains and demand for distributed power rises alongside rapid data-centre construction.
Piyush Mathur, Odyssey’s co-founder and managing director, said the combination of stronger renewable-energy economics and rapid growth among distributed-energy developers was increasing demand for financing infrastructure.
“EPCs and distributed energy developers are growing at unprecedented rates, creating an urgent need for the procurement, financing, and technology infrastructure that can enable them to scale,” he said.
The latest funding follows Odyssey’s $15mn Series A announced in May 2023, bringing total capital raised by the company to $94mn.
For African renewable-energy developers, the company’s proposition is ultimately less about financing completed solar projects than providing the liquidity needed to get those projects built in the first place — a bottleneck that could become increasingly important as demand for decentralised power accelerates across the continent.
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