Angaza powers pay-as-you-go financing for off-grid solar and appliance companies in emerging markets. See its history, funding, features, and business model.
Angaza is a technology company providing pay-as-you-go (PAYG) financing software to off-grid solar and appliance distribution companies, primarily serving last-mile customers across Africa and Asia.
Founded in 2010 by Lesley Silverthorn Marincola as a solar-light hardware company, Angaza pivoted in 2012 to become a software provider, building a metering and monitoring platform that other companies use to offer PAYG financing on their own products.
The company is headquartered in San Francisco, California, and its technology has been deployed by distribution partners in more than 30 countries, predominantly across Sub-Saharan Africa.
Angaza's core technology is an embedded metering mechanism built into a distributor's hardware, such as a solar home system or solar water pump, that can remotely lock or unlock the device based on customer payment status.
This embedded-finance approach allows customers to pay for expensive products in small, manageable installments over time via mobile money or cash, rather than requiring a large upfront purchase.
The platform manages payment tracking and credit-risk data for distributor partners, enabling even small, remote, last-mile businesses to offer financing they could not otherwise underwrite on their own.
Angaza does not publish consumer-facing pricing, since it sells its platform business-to-business to solar and appliance distribution companies rather than directly to end consumers.
Commercial terms are customized to each distributor partner based on scale, product line, and market, and interested distributors must contact Angaza directly for pricing.
Angaza provides pay-as-you-go (PAYG) financing software that helps off-grid solar and appliance companies offer affordable, installment-based financing to customers in emerging markets.
Angaza was founded in 2010 by Lesley Silverthorn Marincola, originally as a solar-light hardware company before pivoting to software in 2012.
Angaza's platform uses an embedded metering mechanism in a distributor's hardware that remotely locks or unlocks the device based on whether the customer has made their payment.
Angaza's technology is deployed by distributor partners in more than 30 countries, predominantly across Sub-Saharan Africa, as well as parts of Asia.
Angaza is now a software and technology company; it started as a solar-light hardware maker in 2010 but pivoted to providing PAYG software to other hardware distributors in 2012.
Angaza sells to off-grid solar and appliance distribution companies (a B2B model), not directly to individual end consumers.
Angaza has raised multiple rounds including a $1.5 million seed round, roughly $10.5 million in Series A funding, and a $13.5 million Series B round led by KawiSafi Ventures.
Angaza is headquartered in San Francisco, California.