IDB Invest backs off-grid solar installer Kingo with USD 5m

IDB Invest, the private sector arm of the Inter-American Development Bank Group, said it has made a USD-5-million (EUR 4.2m) equity investment in Guatemala-based prepaid solar services provider Kingo Energy to support its business model and growth plans.

Kingo Energy serves customers mainly in Guatemala and Colombia, providing pay-as-you-go solar power solutions to the poorest communities living in remote and off-grid rural areas. The company is looking to expand to other countries in Latin America.

IDB Invest said the funding would enable Kingo Energy to increase the number of installed solar products and launch new ones. Besides providing the equity investment, IDB will help the company set up an innovation laboratory and implement corporate governance principles and gender policies.

Kingo Energy has so far raised multi-million dollar amounts from international banks and funds. In 2018, actor and environmental activist Leonardo DiCaprio stepped in as investor and advisor to the company for an undisclosed sum.

(USD 1.0 = EUR 0.844)

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