Fenix International

What Fenix International does

Fenix International is a PAYGo (Pay-As-You-Go) solar energy company founded around 2009–2010 and headquartered in Kampala, Uganda, with an engineering office historically in San Francisco. The company designs, distributes, and finances expandable solar home systems (sold under the Fenix Power and ReadyPay brands) that provide lighting, phone charging, TV, and radio to off-grid households in six African markets: Uganda, Zambia, Côte d'Ivoire, Benin, Nigeria, and Mozambique. Its core technology is a proprietary lockable smart power system that uses GSM cell networks to remotely lock and unlock units based on customer mobile money payments, enabling lease-to-own financing for households earning on average $2–$10 per day, over 70% of whom are unbanked at the time of signing.

The business model is consumer financing wrapped around a hardware sale: customers make a small deposit (e.g., $10 on a $160 Home Starter kit), take the system home, and repay via mobile money over 12 to 30 months at as little as $0.14 per day, after which they own the unit outright. Distribution combines a direct-to-consumer agent network called Fenix Power Champions with co-branded distribution partnerships through African telecom majors MTN and Vodacom, supported by over 150 service centers and 6 call centers speaking more than 60 languages. The company leverages accumulated payment data and behavioral analytics to score previously unbanked customers and underwrite cross-sell products including power upgrades, clean cookstoves (Fumba), satellite TV, and a suite of small loans and health insurance.

Fenix was acquired by ENGIE in 2018 in the first-ever acquisition in the off-grid PAYGo solar sector, and now operates as a subsidiary of ENGIE Africa. As of the most recent disclosure, the company has reached approximately 600,000 households with clean energy, impacted 3 million beneficiaries, and processed 19 million mobile power payments. Leadership under Co-Founder and CEO Brian Warshawsky is supported by a CCO, CFO, and country Managing Directors across all six operating geographies, alongside functional leadership in software, data, hardware engineering, customer credit, policy, and clean cooking.

Name

Fenix International

Legal name

Fenix International

Website

https://fenixintl.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2010

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

51–100 employees

Short description

Fenix International, an ENGIE subsidiary founded around 2009–2010 in Kampala, Uganda, sells lease-to-own PAYGo solar home systems to off-grid households across six African countries, reaching 600,000 households through MTN/Vodacom distribution partnerships and mobile money financing.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Off-Grid Solar Home Systems (PAYGo)

akta.pro primary industry

Issuer/Network-Led Installments (Card-Based Pay-Over-Time) (FSAGAIAB)

Keywords

• Pay-as-you-go solar
• Off-grid solar systems
• Solar consumer financing
• Mobile money payments
• Clean energy access

Headquarters

HQ city

San Francisco

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices8 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Hardware or Manufacturing

Cost components

Supply Chain, Personnel, Operations, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Solar Home System Sales: Sale of Fenix Power solar home systems to off-grid households. Customers pay a deposit and then make daily, weekly, or monthly payments via mobile money over 12 to 30 months. Once fully paid, customers own the system.
2. Solar Home System Sales (PAYGo Model): Sale of solar home systems with inclusive consumer financing. Revenue generated from the full payment of solar kits over time through mobile money installments.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels5 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

Fenix International designs, distributes, and finances Fenix Power / ReadyPay — an expandable PAYGo solar home system that provides lighting, phone charging, radio, and TV to off-grid African households. Customers pay a small deposit (from $10) and then repay the kit (from $160) over 12 to 30 months via mobile money at as little as $0.14 per day, after which they own the system. The system uses proprietary GSM-based lock/unlock technology to remotely enable or disable power based on payment status.

Product overview

Fenix International offers a unified product-and-services platform centered on the Fenix Power / ReadyPay solar home system, which is a PAYGo (Pay As You Go) lockable smart power system providing clean energy to off-grid households across Africa. The core product is sold as an expandable solar home system bundle that includes solar panels, energy storage, and appliances (lights, phone charging, radio, TV). Customers access the system through an inclusive financing model with deposits as low as $10 and daily payments from $0.14. Beyond the core energy product, Fenix builds on the customer relationship to offer a suite of financial services — including School Fee Loans, Agricultural Loans, Home Improvement Loans, and Health Insurance — that are collateralized by the locked solar system and offered only to customers with established repayment histories. Power and financial upgrades (Clean Cookstove, Satellite TV, additional batteries and appliances) allow families to expand their system over time, creating a modular, growth-oriented product ecosystem.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Fenix Power: Expandable solar home system providing lighting, phone charging, TV, and radio, financed through affordable installments over mobile money.
• Fenix Flames
• ReadyPay

Products and services

• Fenix Power / ReadyPay Solar Home System

Quantifiable outcome

• 600,000 households now have clean energy
• +4 more outcomes

Named customers5 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration4 records

AI capability3 records

Feature3 records

Partnerships

Six partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• MTNcoreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorFenix partnered with MTN, Africa's largest telecom, to sell Fenix Power across Uganda, Zambia, and Benin. Fenix and MTN co-brand and co-market Fenix solar home systems. MTN shops securely hold Fenix stock, and Fenix sales reps travel from 100+ points of sale. Customers repay loans via MTN's Mobile Money platform.
• VodacomcoreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorTelecommunications partnership with Vodacom for co-branding and distribution of Fenix Power solar home systems across Africa.
• iDEminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnership with iDE to support victims of Tropical Cyclone Idai in Mozambique. 250 homes were connected to solar through this partnership, with 100 recipients in Sofala province and 150 in Manica province.
• UNCDFminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnership with UN Capital Development Fund in Zambia to test new approaches combining PAYGo solar sales and Mobile Money service through Fenix Traders - a combined agent network.
• Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & RosatiminorImplementation/ SI/ Consulting PartnerLegal partner instrumental in helping launch the Fenix Flames employee ownership program.
• EncludeminorImplementation/ SI/ Consulting PartnerPartner instrumental in helping launch the Fenix Flames employee ownership program.

Scale indicators11 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• M-KOPA: Kenya-headquartered PAYGo solar home system provider serving off-grid households across East Africa with a GSM-locked, mobile-money-financed model very similar to Fenix Power.
• BBOXX: UK-based PAYGo solar operator with deep East Africa footprint, offering solar home systems financed via mobile money and proprietary remote-monitoring/lock technology comparable to Fenix's GSM lockout system.
• d.light: Global PAYGo and cash-pay solar provider operating across multiple African markets, distributing affordable solar home systems and appliances to off-grid households through similar agent networks.
• Sun King (Greenlight Planet): PAYGo and cash solar home system company serving off-grid customers across Africa and Asia, with comparable lease-to-own mobile-money financing and entry-level kit pricing.
• Zola Electric: Off-grid solar provider in East Africa (Tanzania, Rwanda, Ghana, Côte d'Ivoire) offering PAYGo solar home systems with mobile-money payments, directly overlapping with Fenix's Côte d'Ivoire footprint.
• Azuri Technologies: UK-based PAYGo solar home system company operating across East and West Africa, using mobile money and agent distribution to serve off-grid households with a similar lease-to-own model.

Emerging players

• SolarHome: Southeast Asian PAYGo solar competitor with a similar mobile-money-financed solar home system model; useful as an emerging-player benchmark for PAYGo unit economics outside Africa.

Broad incumbents

• ENGIE: Global utility and energy-services major that acquired Fenix in 2018; broader portfolio spans conventional generation, renewables, and distributed energy across Africa, providing strategic context and capital.
• MTN Group: Africa's largest telecom operator and Fenix's core distribution and mobile-money partner; comparable as a mobile-money and digital-distribution platform relevant to Fenix's GTM and payment rails.

Regional players

• Safaricom (M-Pesa): Kenya-headquartered telecom and operator of M-Pesa, the leading African mobile-money platform; relevant for benchmarking the mobile-money rails that Fenix's PAYGo model depends on, although geographically focused on East Africa.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/fenixintl
• Facebookfacebook.com/fenixintl
• Instagraminstagram.com/explore/locations/1011061205/fenix-intl
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/fenix-international

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles10 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds4 records

Investors4 records

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Fenix International