AFRICA -The Spark+ Africa Fund, managed by Spark+ GP, has provided US$1.5 million in long-term quasi-equity financing to ATEC, a clean cooking provider, through its Mauritius affiliate.
The facility will finance ATEC’s acceleration of the rollout of its patented IoT-enabled eCook appliances across African markets.
ATEC’s eCook stove leverages SIM technology to accurately track each device’s usage and process it into 100% data-verified carbon credits through its proprietary digital monitoring, reporting, and verification platform.
Beyond carbon verification, ATEC’s patented ebook design unblocks other barriers to the rapid adoption of electric cooking.
Mobile money and pay-as-you-go (PAYG) integrations remove the upfront asset cost of electric cooking, and users can receive direct payments related to their eCook usage from carbon or development partners.
Each stove integrates with grid providers to offer cooking-specific electricity tariffs as well as dynamic fleet management as grids expand.
“We are pleased to consummate this transaction with ATEC. Given greater rates of electrification and improving grid/mini-grid reliability in many African countries, electricity is a clean, modern cooking option for a growing number of consumers,” Peter George and Xavier Pierluca, investment directors of Spark+, said.
“With the integration of IoT technology, the upfront and ongoing barriers to electric cooking will significantly decline. We are confident ATEC is well-positioned to be one of the leading companies in this emerging space.”
The Spark+ facility will finance ATEC’s capacity to roll out eCook with distributor, grid, and carbon partners across Africa, starting with Rwanda, Zambia, DRC, Uganda, Malawi, and Kenya.
ATEC is also rolling out the eCook product from its original base in Bangladesh and Cambodia to five more Asian markets.
“ATEC is excited about this partnership with Spark+ to support our expansion into African markets. Electric cooking is the safest, cleanest, most energy-efficient solution on the planet, and leverages electrification to keep cooking costs down for households in our targeted countries,” Ben Jeffreys, co-founder and CEO of ATEC, said.
“While electrification rates are not as high as in Asia, Africa leads globally in the adjacent carbon, PAYG, and renewables markets, which IoT unlocks at scale. These provide the foundational blocks for Africa to leapfrog to universal access to electric cooking.”
Spark+ was advised by Morgan Lewis Bockius, led by Boston-based partner Carl Valenstein, with support from London-based partner Ayesha Waheed, London-based associates Opeyemi Atawo, and London-based trainee solicitor Samuel Omotayo. Spark+ was also advised by BLC Robert & Associates in Mauritius. Sidley Austin and BLC Robert & Associates in Mauritius advised ATEC.
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