The WE4F Middle East and North Africa Regional Innovation Hub (MENA RIH) organized the ‘Invest In A Sustainable Future: The Case of Green Essence’ pitching event where the Green Essence team presented the opportunity for seed investors to invest in the company. The event welcomed more than 40 participants and resulted in the signing of more than 10 NDAs that intend to help the company raise $2.5M in debt funding to finance its growth.
Scaling Renewable Energy
Green Essence, a WE4F innovator, is a leading company that provides innovative renewable energy solutions to the residential, commercial, industrial, and agricultural sectors in Lebanon while keeping customers and communities at the center of their services.
Green Essence is looking to grow their market share in response to the boom in the renewable energy market. Through the funding of its working capital for 2023, the company expects to exceed $12 million in revenue next year – a large leap from its current $5 million.
“The WE4F MENA Regional Innovation Hub team provided us with technical assistance and taught us how to access markets and investors. Our objective is to reach farmers who are not able to pay for the installation of solar systems to replace conventional energy in water pumping, irrigation, etc. We had foreseen the drastic increase in energy prices long before it happened, and we had already started reaching out to a wide base of clients. Through this project, farmers can buy solar systems and benefit from two to three-year payment options. Green Essence will use the money to inject into new systems for farmers. With WE4F and with the success of our pilot project, we are aiming to get more access to funds to reach more farmers. We had our presentation with solid numbers and we are now in the process to negotiate the numbers with investors who are ready to support,” explains Saad Macaron, Business Development Manager of Green Essence.
Fundraising in Difficult Times
The Green Essence pitching event is one example of successful fundraising that has occurred during very difficult times in Lebanon. The WE4F MENA RIH team previously organized pitching events for the Lebanese companies Biomass and Compost Baladi, and is planning a new one before the end of December 2022. As part of the WE4F MENA Regional Innovation Hub’s activities, the team works in ten MENA countries in assessing the investment readiness of companies in WE4F, supporting them in becoming investment-ready, and then facilitating investment and brokerage.
“We would have raised by the end of this year more than $30M for WE4F companies in the MENA with success stories in Lebanon, Egypt, Morocco, Jordan, and Iraq. This shows that despite the difficult economic situation with capital controls, and strong currency devaluation across the region, we can increase the awareness for innovative social enterprises in the agriculture, clean energy, and water tech fields and convince investors to be able to fund these companies,” details Constantin Salemeh, Head of Investments at WE4F MENA.
Interested parties can request Green Essence’s investment pitch by sending an email to pamela.saber@berytech.org.
