Inside the Clean Energy Startup Bill Gates Bet $10M On

Today we meet Femi Adeyemo, the builder behind Arnergy, a solar energy company giving homes, businesses and telecom operators across Africa clean, reliable power through solar, battery storage and smart energy monitoring. From starting out in a living room with zero employees in 2013 to hosting Bill Gates at its headquarters and closing an $15M Series B, Femi has spent more than a decade building around one big question: how do you deliver reliable, affordable power in a market that still runs on diesel generators? In this episode of #BUILDERS, we go behind the scenes of his journey, the thinking behind Arnergy, and what it really takes to build energy infrastructure in Nigeria. Watch the full episode. Chapters 00:00 Intro 02:21 The Founding Story & Studying by Candlelight 05:32 Inside Arnergy's $30M, 10MW Solar Operation 12:28 Winning the Build vs. Buy Hardware Debate 18:04 Tour: R&D Lab, 5-Hour Installs & the Talent Pipeline 24:43 60-Month Financing & Replacing Diesel Generators 29:52 The General Electric Deal, $9M Series A & Investor Confidence 34:39 Off-Grid Nigeria, a 90% Pay Cut & $200M Exit Talk SPARK | We build platforms for global conversations. ‪@sparkmarketstv‬ | ‪@techexpohq‬ | ‪@startupfesthq‬