Sun King has raised $40 million in equity funding from sustainable investment firm Lightrock as it pushes deeper into off-grid solar markets across Africa and Asia.
The capital will be used to widen Sun King’s distribution footprint, strengthen its service network, and improve the systems it installs in communities that remain beyond the reach of national power grids. The company says the funding will also support scale across installation, last-mile delivery, and customer support operations.
Founded 18 years ago, Sun King operates a vertically integrated model. It designs and supplies solar systems, sells high-efficiency appliances, installs the equipment, and finances customers through structured payment plans that typically run between 12 and 24 months. This approach is built for households that cannot afford upfront costs but need dependable electricity.
The scale of its operations has grown sharply. Monthly deliveries rose from about 10,000 solar kits in 2017 to more than 330,000 today. The company now targets one million kits per month by 2030, a level it says would support the energy needs of roughly 200 million people.
Sun King currently operates in 11 African countries and runs a physical network of more than 470 retail and service locations. The new funding will be used to extend this network, especially in rural and peri-urban areas where grid expansion remains slow or financially unrealistic.
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The investment comes as decentralized power systems gain policy and investor backing. Mini-grids and standalone solar systems are increasingly viewed as the fastest route to electricity access in regions where population density and terrain make grid rollout costly.
According to a 2025 report by the International Energy Agency, committed financing for decentralized electricity solutions in sub-Saharan Africa reached $870 million in 2023, a 20 percent increase from 2019.
The agency estimates that achieving universal electricity access in the region by 2035 would require annual investment of about $6 billion in mini-grids and a further $5 billion each year for solar home systems.
For companies like Sun King, the implication is direct. Energy access in emerging markets will not be solved by national grids alone. It will depend on businesses that can build, finance, and maintain power systems at household and community scale—and do so with operational discipline.
This funding round signals that investors are increasingly prepared to back that model.
By Thuita Gatero, Managing Editor, Africa Digest News. He specializes in conversations around data centers, AI, cloud infrastructure, and energy.
