The Congolese-based energy startup, formerly known as Kivu Green Energy, was founded in 2015 and specializes in providing affordable and dependable energy to businesses, private individuals, and families in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Nuru, which means “light” in Swahili, builds and runs urban solar hybrid mini-grids in the central African country’s eastern region. Nuru deployed the country’s first solar-powered mini-grid in 2017 and is currently building a 1.3MW solar hybrid site in Goma, which will be Sub-Saharan Africa’s largest off-grid mini-grid. “Proparco is committed to supporting innovative private actors committed to the fight against climate change who work in difficult environments. Nuru is one of these new teams of entrepreneurs whose talent and vision have a significant impact on sustainable development.We are proud to support the growth of the company as part of the Digital Africa initiative that we are rolling out for African start-ups and we look forward to seeing how Nuru’s mini-grids can improve the lives of populations of the Democratic Republic of the Congo,” said Johann Choux, Head of Investments — Financial Institutions and Venture Capital at Proparco.
