Leading Experts in Africa Energy, Finance and Data, Partner with the Rise Fund to Launch Nithio

In partnership with Kupanda Capital, The Rise Fund backs Nithio to
accelerate access to reliable clean energy

WASHINGTON–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Kupanda Holdings today announced a seed investment into Nithio Holdings,
Inc. (“Nithio”), made alongside the Rise Fund, a global investment fund
committed to achieving measurable social and environmental outcomes
alongside competitive financial returns. Nithio is an energy finance
company focused on the off-grid sector in Africa. Kupanda Holdings is a
joint venture between Kupanda Capital and TPG Growth.

“Currently, over 600 million people on the African continent do not have
access to modern energy. Nithio was created as a solution to this
intractable problem. We have developed a powerful tool to deploy blended
finance with greater precision in order to reach those people who need
it most,” said Héla Cheikhrouhou, Co-Founder, Chairman, and CEO of
Nithio. Ms. Cheikhrouhou was previously the Minister of Energy in
Tunisia and the first Executive Director to establish and manage the
Green Climate Fund. She also ran the Energy Department at the African
Development Bank, one of the largest financiers of energy projects
across Africa.

Nithio was founded to help scale off-grid solutions that address the
acute need for modern energy access across Africa. The unique blend of
geospatial data combined with the team’s long history in the market, has
created an unparalleled product. Nithio’s finance and underwriting tools
allow for more detailed understanding of consumer credit, climate risk,
and behavioral differences, even across individuals of similar profiles
in Africa. With a more granular understanding of consumer credit risk in
Africa, distributed energy companies can target new customers even in
the most remote locations across the continent. Nithio also serves as
the infrastructure for large capital providers to pool and deploy
concessional funds. These funds can be used to support households
without an ability to pay for energy services or can also be used to
purchase consumer receivables directly from distributed energy
companies, providing them with much needed liquidity and working
capital–ensuring the growth and sustainability of the nascent industry.

“We’re excited to partner with Kupanda Capital and The Rise Fund to
launch this pioneering company which will deliver huge value to the
off-grid ecosystem,” said Kate Steel, Co-Founder and Chief Operating
Officer at Nithio. Steel has a long career in the off-grid power sector,
most recently as Energy Director for Power Africa, the signature
development initiative of President Obama, and previously in the Energy
Access and Investments team at Google, and as manager of the World
Bank-IFC Lighting Africa initiative.

“Leveraging the power of geospatial data, Kupanda Capital and the Nithio
management team will be able to target creditworthy customers and deploy
climate and concessional funds with greater precision,” said Bobby
Pittman, Co-Founder and Managing Partner at Kupanda Capital.

“This partnership exemplifies our commitment as business builders to
develop and support high-impact ideas, backed by world-class management
teams. Our support will help this uniquely talented team facilitate the
rapid expansion of targeted financing to the energy space and thus
deliver more power to customers across Africa,” said Queen Nworisara
Quinn, Co-Founder and Partner at Kupanda Capital.

“We believe Nithio has the potential to revolutionize access to energy
across the continent – helping to open access to millions of people.
With Nithio, institutional investors, commercial banks, DFIs and
multilateral agencies can channel private capital and concessional funds
efficiently to companies and consumers in the off-grid sector in
Africa,” said Bill McGlashan, Co-Founder and CEO of The Rise Fund.

About Nithio

Nithio Holdings Inc., is an energy finance platform that provides
services to distributed energy service companies, capital providers,
governments, and other stakeholders in the distributed solar energy
sector in Africa.

About Kupanda Capital

Kupanda Capital is a leading investment firm established to create,
capitalize and scale pan-African companies. The Kupanda team has decades
of experience working on projects, investments and policy in nearly
every market in Africa. The firm leverages this experience to deploy
solutions that are both customized and scalable. In addition to Nithio,
the firm also co-founded Fraym.io,
which is the leading geospatial data company in Africa. For more
information, visit www.kupandacapital.com.

About The Rise Fund

The Rise Fund is a global investment fund committed to achieving
meaningful and measurable societal outcomes alongside competitive
financial returns. The Rise Fund is managed by TPG Growth, the global
growth equity and middle market buyout platform of alternative asset
firm TPG. TPG Growth Founder and Managing Partner Bill McGlashan, U2
lead singer Bono, a well-known activist and a special partner with TPG
Growth, and Jeff Skoll, a global entrepreneur, film producer, and impact
investor, co-founded The Rise Fund. They were joined by a group of
influential thought leaders with a deep personal and professional
commitment to driving social and environmental progress, who came
together to form the Founders Board. The Rise Fund’s objectives align
with the U.N.’s Sustainable Development Goals. The Rise Fund invests in
education, energy, food and agriculture, financial services, growth
infrastructure, healthcare, and TMT companies that deliver complete
returns.

Contacts

Media:
Nithio/Kupanda Capital
Sean Buckley,
+1-202-670-2050
[email protected]
or
The
Rise Fund
Frank Thomas, +1-212-601-4711
[email protected]