Sun King, an off-grid solar energy company, has raised $40 million in equity financing from Lightrock, a global sustainable investment platform.
The funding is expected to support Sun King’s expansion of decentralized solar energy systems across Africa and Asia and advance the development of new products for underserved households and businesses in these regions. The capital will also help broaden its product portfolio by leveraging improvements in solar technology, control electronics, and battery science.
The company currently operates in 11 African countries and plans to deepen its presence in these markets, aiming to deploy 3.8 GW of new decentralized solar capacity by 2030.
Arul Thomas, Partner at Lightrock, said, “Sun King exemplifies the type of proven, scalable solution we seek to support at Lightrock. The team’s execution ability in growing to serve 50 million people is truly laudable, and we are delighted to partner with them as they continue expanding their customer offering, operations, and international presence to address the critical global challenge of energy access.”
In 2022, the company raised $260 million in a Series D funding round, led by BeyondNetZero, the climate investing venture of General Atlantic, along with M&G Investments’ Catalyst team and Arch Emerging Markets Partners.
According to Mercom’s 9M and Q3 2025 Solar Funding and M&A report, in 9M 2025, VC funding activity decreased 17% YoY, with $2.9 billion raised in 55 deals compared to the $3.5 billion raised in 39 deals in 9M 2024. Solar downstream companies led financing activity with 40 deals worth $2.5 billion in 9M 2025.
In November, Sedgeley Solar Group, a renewable-energy platform that offers capex-free solar solutions for commercial and industrial (C&I) clients, raised $60 million in equity funding. The funding was primarily provided by Inspired Evolution’s next-generation energy transition fund, Evolution III, which invested $30 million. The remaining funding came from FMO and Swedfund, as well as a significant reinvestment from the founders and RMB Corvest.
