Enterprise growth & finance

Man using jigsaw to cut plywood, while another man looks on.

The technology is rarely what holds clean energy back. The enterprises bringing it to underserved markets are the ones that struggle, often unable to grow beyond a first success. The distance between a pilot that works and a business that lasts is where most promising ventures stall, and where the energy that could power farms, clinics, and small businesses stays out of reach.

Early-stage energy enterprises usually face several hurdles at once: business models not yet proven at scale, financial systems that fall short of what investors expect, limited access to growth capital, and weak links to the suppliers, distributors, and partners they depend on. The result is a thin pipeline of investable businesses, and without it the capital waiting for clean energy has nowhere to go.

We help enterprises bridge that distance, with hands-on technical support shaped around each venture’s particular gaps: refining business models, getting investment-ready, mobilizing capital and brokering investor introductions, and building the market links that productive use businesses rely on to grow. From solar irrigation suppliers and cold chain innovators to the women-led businesses opening up new markets, we work with enterprises at the moment the right support turns promise into scale.

Program examples

person sorting thru crates of produce

Powering renewable energy opportunities

Powering Renewable Energy Opportunities (PREO), delivered by the Carbon Trust and Energy 4 Impact with support from the IKEA Foundation and UK aid, helps productive use enterprises across sub-Saharan Africa and the Pacific Islands grow from pilot to commercial scale. Energy 4 Impact provides the hands-on technical assistance, working through each venture's gaps in business model, market development, and operations, and brokering the value chain partnerships these models depend on. Since 2019, the programme has awarded approximately £12.8 million in grants. Companies it has backed have leveraged £31 million in public and private follow-on funding, supported 756 sustainable jobs, improved energy access for 67,055 people, and reduced or avoided 2,248 tonnes of CO2e.

woman looking in freezer

Catalyzing clean energy transitions

Energy Catalyst is an Innovate UK programme whose accelerator is delivered by a consortium led by the Carbon Trust. Within it, Energy 4 Impact serves as sub-Saharan Africa and Knowledge Management Lead, working with clean energy innovators to enter or scale in the region's markets. In that role, Energy 4 Impact has supported dozens of early and mid-stage companies across ten rounds, giving each a dedicated business coach for commercialisation strategy, business planning, fundraising, regulatory guidance and market entry.

overhead view of solar panels

Unlocking crowd investment in the energy sector

Energy access enterprises need capital, but many are too early or too small for conventional investors. Crowd Power, delivered by Energy 4 Impact since 2015 with funding from the FCDO through the Transforming Energy Access platform, showed that everyday retail investors will step in when given the right tools. By reducing the cost and risk of listing energy access companies on crowdfunding platforms, and by drawing new investors into the market, the programme has helped 76 of these companies raise more than $65 million on 15 crowdfunding platforms, capital that conventional finance was not yet ready to provide.

Stay connected to our work
Join our newsletter