Oikocredit Invests in Charm Impact’s Hummingbird One to Support Early-Stage Renewable Energy Companies in Africa

Oikocredit has committed to Hummingbird One, a new blended finance investment vehicle launched by Charm Impact to provide small-ticket loans to early-stage renewable energy and clean cooking companies across Sub-Saharan Africa.

Hummingbird One announced its first close at USD 6.25 million, with commitments from Oikocredit, Dutch Good Growth Fund’s Seed Capital and Business Development facility, managed by Triple Jump, the IKEA Foundation and the Good Energies Foundation. The vehicle has a target size of USD 12 million.

The investment vehicle is designed to meet a persistent financing gap in Africa’s energy transition: locally owned, early-stage companies often need loans that are too small for many institutional investors to provide efficiently, but too large or complex for more informal sources of capital. Hummingbird One will provide loans of between USD 50,000 and USD 500,000 to renewable energy and clean cooking businesses that are building access to sustainable energy in underserved communities.

Selina Yang, Investment Officer at Oikocredit, said:

“Early-stage companies are essential to a thriving sustainable energy ecosystem in Africa, yet they often fall below the ticket sizes that larger institutions can efficiently support. Oikocredit’s climate vision is to direct capital toward businesses that expand access to sustainable energy, strengthen resilience and support the communities most vulnerable to climate change. Vehicles like Hummingbird One play a critical role in nurturing the next generation of local enterprises that can scale into institutionally bankable, climate-resilient businesses.”

Hummingbird One builds on Charm Impact’s specialist approach to financing locally owned renewable energy businesses. The vehicle’s initial focus markets include Kenya, Uganda, Nigeria and Zambia, with geographic expansion planned following full close.

The vehicle aims for at least 85% of its portfolio to consist of locally owned companies. Its blended finance structure combines senior, junior and catalytic capital to align risk, return and impact, while making small-ticket lending economically viable for institutional investors.

Charm Impact has also developed specialist software to support faster credit assessment and continuous portfolio monitoring. According to Charm Impact, this approach helps reduce due diligence timelines and enables more efficient deployment of capital to growing energy companies.

Gavriel Landau, Founder and CEO of Charm Impact, said:

“The renewable energy ecosystem is becoming increasingly effective at funding established scale. But it has not been designed to finance scale-building. Hummingbird One was created to address that structural mismatch.”

Charm Impact has deployed more than USD 5.4 million across over 40 loans in eight African markets to date, supporting companies that have reached more than 350,000 people with improved access to energy.

Oikocredit’s participation in Hummingbird One supports its ambition to grow its climate finance portfolio and back businesses that expand access to clean energy, improve resilience and help communities adapt to the effects of climate change.