Lendable backs Kenya's Watu with first check from $200M climate fund
What's the deal? London-based Lendable has made Kenyan asset-financing firm WatuDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom → the first recipient of financing from its Lendable Transportation and Energy Fund (LTEF), a $200 million blended-finance vehicle targeting clean transportation and energy businesses in emerging markets.
Who's behind the fund? The LTEF is anchored by Shell FoundationDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom → and the UK government, which provide first-loss capital to absorb initial losses and lower risk for senior investors. The International Finance Corporation, FMODealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →, SIFEM, and several family offices round out its backers; the IFC alone committed $86 million to Lendable's two new funds.
Why now? The fund secured $135 million at its first close in December 2025 and aims to hit $200 million by mid-2027.
What's the endgame? For Watu, the financing will scale its electric motorcycle lease-to-own business to roughly 1,000 vehicles per month. The company has financed more than 8,000 electric vehicles since 2021 and operates across Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda, and Tanzania.
Lendable and Watu have worked together since 2017, when a $1.5 million debt package kicked off a relationship that has since grown to more than $65 million in financing.
By the numbers: Watu reported a 2025 net profit of US$46.7M, a fourteen-fold jump from the prior year, on revenue of US$275.5M. Founded in 2015, it operates in eight African countries plus Mexico and Brazil, and has originated more than 7 million loans.
What they're saying: "Too many businesses delivering climate solutions in emerging markets struggle to access the financing they need to scale," said Nick Jones, head of financial solutions at Shell Foundation. "By anchoring the Lendable Transportation and Energy Fund, we are helping to demonstrate how catalytic capital can unlock significantly larger pools of private investment."
The signal: The LTEF reflects a wider shift in development finance — using philanthropic and public money not to replace private capital but to pull it into markets that have long struggled to attract commercial investment.
Read more: launchbaseafrica.com
Image credit: Generated with Gemini
