Transforming agriculture: the rise of solar financing

In Kenya’s sun-drenched fields, a fresh model of agricultural finance is taking root.

SunCulture and Bridgin have unveiled a US$15mn financing structure to help smallholder farmers access solar irrigation that’s capital unlocked for climate-smart agriculture at scale.

Under this plan, Bridgin finances portfolios of SunCulture’s farmer receivables essentially acquiring or backing the payments owed by farmers for solar irrigation kits. That trick frees SunCulture’s capital, enabling it to extend credit to new customers while shifting the financial risk into a ring‑fenced special purpose vehicle (SPV) separate from the balance sheet. The structure also includes credit enhancements and is designed to absorb blended finance sources, making it more attractive to institutional capital.

Risk management is handled smartly: Bridgin’s platform monitors payments in real time, using analytics to flag potential default risk before it becomes a problem. According to Martin Andersen, SunCulture’s Finance Strategy lead, “the facility aligns repayments with customer payments, simplifying capital flows and enabling scale.” Manon Dubois, Bridgin’s Fintech Business Lead, emphasizes that “this structure is more than a financial instrument: it’s a blueprint for scaling rural innovation.”

SunCulture is no newcomer to impact. Its solar irrigation systems have enabled thousands of farmers to lift yields, conserve water, and raise incomes. To date, they’ve sold more than 50,000 systems, provided over US$35mn in credit, and documented yield hikes of up to 300% along with 80% water reductions.

This innovative financing tackles three chronic roadblocks in agritech: small deal sizes, risk perception, and murky data. By combining transparency with scale, the structure invites institutional investors into an arena often considered too small or too opaque.

For Kenya’s farmers, this could mark a turning point. Instead of being priced out of irrigation by high diesel or utility costs, they can tap solar-power and pay over time. For investors, it’s a rare chance to back agriculture and climate resilience in one shot. The SunCulture–Bridgin model may well become a replicable template for directing capital deep into rural regions that need it most.