Energy Access Ventures (EAV), a Paris-based impact‐focused venture firm, has announced its $2m inaugural investment in Off-Grid Electric (OGE), an off-grid electric company providing clean, affordable solar power to homes in East Africa.

EAV’s investment was made as part of a $25m investment round including leading investors DBL Investors, Western Technology Investment, as well as previous investors SolarCity, Omidyar Network, Zouk Capital, Serious Change, and Vulcan Capital the private investment firm of Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen.

The round is the largest venture capital investment round in the access to energy market.

Michael H Gera, Managing Partner of Energy Access Ventures, said: “As the only venture and impact fund wholly focused on bringing energy access to the 600 million people in Africa who do not yet have it, I am very excited that we have found such a great company for our first investment."

"With EAV's significant presence on the ground, we very much look forward to working with the company to help it achieve significant impact and commercial success,” he said.

OGE delivers affordable, clean power solutions to rural and semi-urban communities who currently have little or no access to electricity.

OGE’s Solar Home Systems are being successfully deployed to power light and appliances in homes and small businesses.

OGE helps provide better living conditions and income-generating opportunities to some of the poorest people in East Africa, whilst cutting emissions.

The new investment from EAV will mean OGE can increase their work in Tanzania to power a million homes by 2017.

In addition, they will be able to enter the Rwandan market for the first time to get their solar technology to people with no electricity.

Targeting investments in the energy access value chain, the fund held its first closing at €55m in February 2015, and is sponsored by the French multinational Schneider Electric.

Its current investors are CDC Group (UK), managing funds for the UK Department for International Development, the European Investment Bank, PROPARCO, and the OPEC Fund for International Development (OFID).

CDC invested €16.5m in the EAV fund in early 2015, playing a vital role in helping the fund to get off the ground.

CDC’s investment in EAV was drawn from the DFID Impact Fund, a ring-fenced pool of capital designed to support investors who back enterprises which serve the poor as consumers, suppliers or employees.

Diana Noble, CDC’s CEO said: “Lack of electricity holds back social progress, economic growth and environmental improvements, so I’m delighted that CDC ‘s investment in Energy Access Ventures is being used to support Off-Grid Electric, a company that will bring clean, green energy to a million homes in East Africa by 2017."

"When CDC backed the Energy Access Ventures fund earlier this year we did so because we expected them to make investments like this one - investments that strengthen local energy infrastructure and bring power to the poorest people, making an enormous difference to their lives,” she said.

This investment supports the ambitions of the UK’s Energy Africa campaign, which aims to accelerate universal energy access in the continent by boosting the household solar market in sub-Saharan Africa.

It is estimated that power outages cost countries in sub-Saharan Africa 1-2% of their GDP annually.

The latest solar technology, like that from OGE, provides a clean and affordable way to make an immediate difference.

UK International Development Minister Grant Shapps, MP added: "Hundreds of millions of people in sub-Saharan Africa still don't have access to electricity. By boosting the solar market, the UK’s Energy Africa campaign is powering a solar revolution across the continent."

"And with backing from Britain, Energy Access Ventures’ new investment in OGE will bring solar power to people who have never had electricity before, reduce toxic emissions, and by providing light after dark more than double the time children can spend studying," he said.