Sun King Raises $5M From Acumen to Take Solar Into Zambia and Unlock Local-Currency Debt
Nairobi-based Sun King has raised a $5 million Series D equity investment from Acumen's H2R Catalyze initiative to expand its pay-as-you-go solar business in Zambia, and the round is meant to unlock local-currency debt from Zambian lenders.
Nairobi-based off-grid solar company Sun King has raised $5 million in a Series D equity investment from Acumen, through its H2R Catalyze initiative. The money goes into Sun King's Zambian subsidiary to expand its pay-as-you-go solar operations. Acumen describes it as its first country-level equity investment in Sun King.
The round is also meant to attract debt. Sandra Halilovic, head of H2R Catalyze at Acumen, said the investment "will accelerate Sun King's scale in Zambia and close the energy access gap, while also attracting local currency debt from Zambian financial institutions."
Sun King operates across 11 African and Asian markets, has raised $547 million across 20 funding rounds, and has issued $1.3 billion in solar loans to nearly 10 million customers. It completed a $156 million local-currency securitization in Kenya in 2025 and raised $40 million from Lightrock in December 2025.
Acumen projects the Zambia business will reach 5.6 million people over five years, with 4.5 million of them gaining electricity access for the first time.
Sun King's $5 million is small. The sequence behind it is the story. Equity goes in first to prove a pay-as-you-go model works in a new country, then local banks lend against the proven loan book. Kenya already shows the endpoint: a $156 million local-currency securitization in 2025. Zambia is the next test of whether that playbook travels. For investors backing any asset-backed consumer model entering a new market, the question is when the local debt shows up, not how big the equity check was. Sun King's model is the same one M-KOPA runs, so Zambian repayment data will read across to that category. Watch for the securitization, not the headline.
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