Orb Energy Secures $2 Million for East Africa Solar Expansion

India-based solar developer Orb Energy has secured a $2 million investment from KawiSafi Ventures to accelerate the deployment of commercial and industrial (C&I) solar projects across East Africa, with Kenya at the centre of its expansion strategy.

The funding, provided through KawiSafi’s second fund, is expected to help Orb move a pipeline of rooftop, ground-mounted and solar-plus-storage projects from development into construction and commissioning.
Orb operates an integrated model covering solar panel manufacturing, engineering, procurement and construction (EPC), as well as financing for commercial and industrial customers. Its African headquarters are in Nairobi, positioning the company to respond to growing demand from businesses seeking alternatives to increasingly costly and unreliable grid electricity.

The investment comes as C&I solar continues to emerge as a significant growth market across East Africa. For businesses, distributed generation can reduce exposure to grid constraints, improve energy cost predictability, and, increasingly, support decarbonisation targets.

For developers and EPC companies, Orb’s latest funding also highlights the importance of combining technology, project execution and customer financing. Access to capital remains a major constraint for distributed energy projects, particularly where customers require longer-term financing before committing to solar installations.

KawiSafi has positioned its second fund around energy transition and green productivity investments. The fund secured backing from institutions including the Green Climate Fund and Schmidt Family Foundation, following the firm’s earlier $67 million clean energy fund launched in 2016.

Orb’s fundraising comes against a more challenging global financing environment for solar ventures. Venture capital investment in the sector fell 40% year-on-year in the first half of 2026 to $1.5 billion, according to the figures cited in the company’s announcement.

Against that backdrop, targeted investment in companies with established regional operations and identifiable project pipelines could become increasingly important.

For East Africa’s C&I solar market, the immediate test will be execution: converting Orb’s pipeline into operating assets and demonstrating that commercially structured solar and storage can deliver reliable, competitive power at scale.