Editor’s note: African-Startups is a sister publication of EU-Startups, bringing trusted coverage of startups, venture capital, and innovation across Africa.
The ClimaFii Alliance has announced its second cohort of startups, a group of 20 companies building climate technologies designed specifically for microentrepreneurs across Africa. The selected companies will receive catalytic capital, venture-building support, financing connections, and product design and go-to-market guidance aimed at making clean energy and mobility solutions more accessible and affordable to small business owners on the continent. Each selected business in this programme can receive up to $85,000 in funding, comprising cash grants and in-kind support.
Supported by Shell Foundation and the UK’s Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO), and implemented across Africa by BFA Global and Accion, the ClimaFii Alliance was officially announced in January 2025. It works with early-stage companies building and deploying productive-use energy and mobility solutions. The programme targets the commercial and financing barriers that frequently prevent innovative climate businesses from reaching scale in underserved markets.
According to BFA Global, the programme’s core focus areas span sustainable cooling and cold chain, renewable energy-powered agri-processing, distributed renewable energy, asset finance for energy and electric mobility, clean cooking, electric mobility fleets and OEMs, and interoperable battery swapping for EVs. The unifying thread is solutions focused on enabling income-generating activities: helping micro-enterprises lower costs, improve productivity, and increase earnings while reducing emissions.
As climate pressures increase volatility for small businesses across sub-Saharan Africa, this cohort reflects a shift toward climate technologies that deliver immediate economic value to end users, demonstrating that increasing incomes and reducing emissions can go hand in hand.
The second cohort is notably twice the size of ClimaFii’s inaugural group of 10 startups announced in July 2025, signalling growing momentum behind climate-focused investment in African microenterprises. This year’s cohort spans companies from Sierra Leone and Zambia to Rwanda and Nigeria. Over the coming months, all 20 companies will begin working with the Alliance’s team to refine their products and unlock the financing needed to grow.
Let’s meet them!
aQysta
Founded: 2013
HQ: The Hague, South Holland
With offices in the Netherlands, India, Nepal, and Malawi, aQysta has transformed from a renewable technology innovator to a farming solution provider. The company delivers renewable energy-powered processing solutions to reduce post-harvest losses and boost farmer incomes. It was founded at the Technical University of Delft and aims to empower farmers with better access to markets, capital, knowledge, farming inputs, and renewable energy technologies.
BioAfriq Energy
Founded: 2017
HQ: Nairobi, Kenya
This Kenyan climate-smart innovation provides pay-per-use solar and biomass-powered drying services to strengthen agricultural value chains. It designs hybrid solar dryers, Black Soldier Fly (BSF) dryers, and has established modern dehydration hubs that make food preservation fast, safe, and affordable. The company works with farmers, women groups, cooperatives, NGOs, and county partners to reduce losses, improve incomes, and produce high-quality, market-ready dried products.
BioMassters
Founded: 2020
HQ: Kigali, Rwanda
BioMassters calls itself a clean cooking company, and it manufactures biomass pellet fuels and efficient stoves as a cleaner substitute for charcoal. Its solution is aimed at lowering household cooking costs and harmful emissions. Founded by Claudia Muench and Innocent Nsekeyukunze, the mission of this company is to make charcoal obsolete in Rwanda.
BrightLife
Founded: 2015
HQ: Kampala, Uganda
Founded FINCA International, BrightLife expands access to solar-powered productive-use appliances through flexible financing. It aims to be the most affordable, high-quality next-generation energy company in Uganda.
ClimaVault Africa
Founded: 2021
HQ: Kyegegwa, Uganda
This Uganda-based climate-focused innovation company provides solar-powered cold storage to cut spoilage and improve smallholder market access. It leverages technology to secure Africa’s food systems and environmental assets and offers multiple services.
Dialight/VIRL Microfinance
Founded: 2010
HQ: Mutare, Zimbabwe
Dialight combines productive-use energy product distribution with accessible microfinance for small businesses. It delivers cost-effective solar solutions to rural and off-grid communities and empowers individuals as well as small businesses to thrive in an energy-secure environment.
Easy Solar
Founded: 2019
HQ: Freetown, Sierra Leone
Founded in 2019, Easy Solar delivers solar systems and productive-use appliances that lower energy costs for households and microenterprises. With over 700 kW of installed capacity, it offers a comprehensive suite of services, including energy audits and system design, installation, financing, and ongoing maintenance for schools, hospitals, businesses, and farms. The company has generated over 250MWh of clean energy and helped more than 70 organisations cut their reliance on costly diesel generators.
Fanga
Founded: 2025
HQ: Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire
Fanga is building battery-swapping infrastructure to support electric mobility for motorcycle operators in Côte d’Ivoire. Its platform allows riders to purchase an electric motorcycle from a Fanga partner, then manage battery swaps, locate nearby charging stations in real time, and track consumption, all through a dedicated mobile app. The company offers day, week, and monthly swap passes, and its batteries are designed to be compatible across multiple electric motorcycle brands, reducing the risk of vendor lock-in for riders.
Furaha Financial
Founded: 2023
HQ: Kampala, Uganda
Furaha provides digital lending for productive-use mobility assets and income-generating activities. Its mission is to unlock financial opportunities for the missing middle through community and technology. Its product suite includes digital loans for power and electricity access, business growth, and education and has a growing focus on financing productive-use mobility assets for income-generating activities
In24
Founded: 2024
HQ: Kampala, Uganda
In24 finances productive-use energy equipment through independent underwriting and partnerships across Uganda and Zambia.
Jiwambe
Founded: 2023
HQ: Nairobi, Kenya
Jiwambe recognises that for millions across Africa, motorcycles are a daily source of income, but rising fuel costs and unpredictable maintenance are making it harder for riders to truly benefit from their work. The company addresses this by providing electric motorcycles to riders through financing structures calibrated to their income, partnering with multiple Kenyan manufacturers, including Kofa, ENZI E-Mobility, Spiro, and Roam, to offer riders a range of models with warranties and after-sales support.
KeepITCool
Founded: 2019
HQ: Nairobi, Kenya
KeepITCool delivers solar-powered cold-chain logistics tailored to fish and poultry value chains in Kenya and Uganda, the two sectors where temperature-sensitive goods are routinely lost before reaching consumers. By providing mobile cold-chain solutions, the company helps informal traders and small processors extend the shelf life of their produce, reduce waste, and access more lucrative markets.
Koolboks
Founded: 2018
HQ: Paris, France
Koolboks expands access to solar-powered cooling through scaled distribution and flexible financing models. The company distributes solar-powered freezers, chillers, and ice makers to small businesses across Nigeria, Kenya, Uganda, and beyond through flexible monthly payment plans, enabling vendors, fish traders, and food processors to preserve goods and expand their revenues without the cost burden of diesel-powered refrigeration.
Lenol
Founded: 2025
HQ: Lagos, Nigeria
Lenol offers lease-to-own electric mobility and battery solutions for small businesses.
Manamuz Electric
Founded: 2016
HQ: Enugu, Nigeria
Manamuz Electric, which bills itself as an “Energising Agriculture” company, provides solar cold storage and greenhouse systems designed to make Nigerian agriculture more climate-resilient. By combining solar-powered refrigeration with controlled growing environments, it helps smallholder farmers manage both the preservation and production sides of the food supply chain, reducing losses at harvest and improving year-round productivity.
OKOA
Founded: 2020
HQ: Nairobi, Kenya
OKOA Energy was built on a single conviction: that the electric mobility revolution would only succeed if its underlying infrastructure was interoperable, scalable, and data-driven from day one. The company builds and operates battery swapping networks for e-motorcycles and tuk-tuks, and has developed a complete software stack to manage them in real time across countries. Having already managed over 200,000 battery swaps across four markets, it is now launching its interoperable swap network in Tanzania, Cameroon, and Zambia.
Rivy
Founded: 2019
HQ: Ikoyi, Nigeria
Rivy is building the financial infrastructure to make clean energy easy to afford, quick to access, and open to all. Its products include inventory finance for solar distributors, asset finance for homes and businesses, and energy certificates that convert clean energy usage into income. The company has disbursed over $27 million (₦38 billion) in loans, approved 37,000 applications, and helped users avoid an estimated 3,000 tonnes of CO₂ emissions.
SamaKing
Founded: 2023
HQ: Nairobi, Kenya
Samaking is building Africa’s most efficient fish supply network, sourcing directly from fishermen and fish farmers to increase their incomes, and supplying cold-chain-assured fish to food businesses and households. The company processes under strict quality controls and distributes through a retail franchise network and B2B partnerships with hotels, supermarkets, and export operations, aiming to make fish the continent’s leading protein source.
TRÍ
Founded: 2021
HQ: Dar es Salaam, Tanzania
TRÍ deploys electric mobility solutions and charging infrastructure across urban African markets.
Yongeza Capital
Founded: 2024
HQ: Kampala, Uganda
Yongeza Capital operates battery-swapping infrastructure to support the growth of electric mobility in Uganda. Its battery-swapping stations are solar-powered and available around the clock, enabling riders to swap batteries in under a minute. The company’s electric bikes are designed specifically for African road conditions, offering up to 80 kilometres on a single charge and savings of up to 40% on daily transportation costs compared to petrol alternatives.
