MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: AXA, Acumen’s KawiSafi Lead $16m Equity, Debt Investment Round in Sistema.bio, Provider of Biogas Digesters

KawiSafi Ventures, a Kenya-based fund managed by US-based Acumen Capital Partners, and AXA IM Alts, which is controlled by France’s AXA Group, recently led an investment totaling USD 15.6 million in Sistema.bio, a Mexico-based biogas company that is active on four continents. The funding package includes a mix of debt and equity with participation from 16 additional investors – nine of which are based in Europe, four in the US and three in Latin America.

Jonathan Dean, Head of Impact Investing at AXA IM Alts, said, “By converting polluting waste into high-value biofuels and sustainable agricultural inputs through proprietary cutting-edge technology, Sistema.bio’s corporate mission directly aligns with AXA IM Alts’ impact objectives to promote resource efficiency and innovative solutions to climate change through its investments.”

Sistema.bio CEO Alex Eaton said, “We have spent well over a decade creating the technology and model to support smallholder farmers to become more sustainable, independent and productive. We can now do that at scale, while driving significant methane and carbon dioxide reductions on farms and strengthening global food systems.”

Founded in 2010, Sistema.bio provides small- and medium-scale farmers in Africa, India and Latin America with biodigesters that “conver[t] their waste into economic, health and environmental benefits.” The company has installed 19,000 digesters that produce gas used to produce electricity as well as for “cooking, heating water and industrial processing of agricultural products.”

Founded in 2016, KawiSafi Ventures invests in efforts by low-income populations in East Africa to mitigate and adjust to climate change. As of 2021, it reports having provided access to clean energy for 24 million households. Acumen was founded in 2001 and reports total assets of USD 153 million as of 2020.

AXA IM Alts is a unit of AXA Investment Managers that has approximately 500 customers in North America and Eurasia. As of September 2021, it reports EUR 168 billion (USD 191 billion) in assets under management. AXA Group provides insurance, investment management and other financial services. As of December 2020, the group reports EUR 1.0 trillion (USD 1.2 trillion) in assets under management.

By Sheen Gupta, Research Associate

Sources and Additional Resources

Sistema.bio press release
https://sistema.bio/blog/2022-investment-press-release/

Sistema.bio homepage
https://sistema.bio/

KawiSafi homepage
https://www.kawisafi.com/

Acumen Capital Partners homepage
https://acumencapital.com/

Acumen homepage
https://acumen.org/

AXA IM Alts homepage
https://realassets.axa-im.com/

AXA Investment Managers homepage
https://www.axa-im.com/

AXA Group homepage
https://www.axa.com/

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