E3 Capital

E3 Capital (formerly Energy Access Ventures) is a Nairobi-based climate tech venture fund founded in 2015 by Paras Patel, who built the firm around the conviction that Africa's energy transition and digital transformation are deeply interconnected. The firm has raised $150 million across its history, starting with the €75 million Energy Access Ventures Fund I (which made 15 investments in decentralized energy businesses) and following up with the E3 Low Carbon Economy Fund for Africa (E3LCEF), which hit a first close of $48.1 million in May 2023 against a $100 million target.

The rebranding from Energy Access Ventures to E3 Capital reflects an expanded thesis. While Fund I focused specifically on off-grid energy access, the E3LCEF covers three interconnected mandates: climate-smart services (solar, clean cooking, battery networks, grid infrastructure), low-carbon productivity enablers (agricultural cold chain, agritech, sustainable construction), and digital connectivity and applications (last-mile internet, IoT platforms, data-driven climate finance). The "3 E's" stand for the firm's vision of a digitised, decentralised, and decarbonised Africa.

What makes E3 distinctive from other climate investors operating in Africa is the depth of the LP base and the on-the-ground presence. The fund is backed by major European DFIs including KfW (Germany), FMO (Netherlands), Swedfund (Sweden), Proparco (France), BII (UK), the European Investment Bank, and the OPEC Fund, alongside corporate and strategic investors like Schneider Electric, Cygnum Capital, and Aster Capital. Lion's Head Global Partners, an emerging markets investment bank managing over $700 million, serves as a fund partner. This institutional backing gives portfolio companies access to follow-on capital networks and policy relationships across the continent.

The portfolio includes notable names like D.light (affordable solar for off-grid communities, one of the most recognized solar brands in Africa), Sun Culture (solar-powered irrigation), BBOXX (off-grid solar and clean cooking), Nuru (solar-hybrid metro-grids in the DRC), Mawingu Networks (last-mile internet connectivity in East Africa), and Kofa (distributed battery networks). The firm reports 269,930 tonnes of CO₂ emissions avoided, 18 million+ beneficiaries, and nearly 4,000 direct jobs created across its portfolio.

The current leadership team is led by Vova Dugin (Managing Partner) and Melvyn Lubega (Senior Partner), supported by an investment team and a board of advisors that includes Jean-Michel Sévérino (Chairman of I&P's Supervisory Board), Clemens Calice (CEO of Cygnum Capital), and Elo Umeh (Founder of Terragon).