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A capital raising solutions for Africa’s energy market

Puttru is an African FinTech Company on a mission to disrupt the traditional capital raising process in African energy markets, by enabling African energy companies and investors within and outside Africa to connect, interact, close deals and manage their investments. One of the most Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) we receive on Puttru is: what does the word Puttru mean? This usually precedes a wave of questions on the technology, the company’s business model, how the idea came about and etcetera.

This article is an introduction to Puttru, with the principal aim to provide answers to your basic questions concerning the company – what we stand for and why you should keep your eyes on us. This is the first of a series on An Introduction to Puttru, with each subsequent article to provide a deep dive into our modus operandi. As a reader you have the unique opportunity of shaping these articles through your thought-provoking questions, so keep them coming.

We are a company born out of extreme fatigue of much talk and still many un-electrified communities.

When we say Puttru what do we mean? 

Puttru is not an acronym or a word from an esoteric African language (although we wished it was). Puttru simply means to put-through, with the dictionary meaning: to see something to a successful close. This is the foundation of Puttru as a business and as a service provider.

The word Puttru may not have originated from an African vocabulary but it does mean something to a group in India. Puttru, in one of the Indian dialects, mean a ‘rail track’, connecting people and communities. Which, incidentally, is really what Puttru  is about – connecting people within and across borders.

So, whether we settle for the English word or the exotic version from the Indian dialect, the meaning still remains the same: Puttru is about bringing different actors together with the aim to successfully achieve the intent of the transaction.

We are uniquely crafted to respond to the needs of privately-held energy/power sector companies in Africa by removing a principle barrier to their ability to access capital.

The Mission and Vision of Puttru

‘We are your bridge to closing that energy business deal in Africa’. This is a statement we want you to keep close to your heart. It is a promise we want you to remember us for and to judge us by.
Why would we set for ourselves such a tall order?

The answer is that we are a company born out of extreme fatigue of much talk and still many un-electrified communities. We have heard several times that Africa’s energy resources are in abundance and that the continent is a sleeping giant. We have heard a lot of what Africa could be. At Puttru, we want to see Africa become.

Africa’s energy market is a multi-trillion dollars, largely untapped opportunity. With Africa now having the fastest growing middle class in the world, the time has never been better to invest in a region where more than half of its population do not have access to modern energy services.

Puttru’s mission is to disrupt the traditional capital raising process in African energy markets by leveraging advances in FinTech to enable energy businesses and investors, within and outside Africa, to connect, interact and close investment deals. By addressing barriers to, and facilitating flow of, private sector investment into the African energy sector we empower African companies to address the energy challenges in the region.

The goal of Puttru, as a company, is to become the leading one-stop capital raising platform for the energy market in Africa.

Puttru is an African FinTech Company on a mission to disrupt the traditional capital raising process in African energy markets, by enabling African energy companies and investors within and outside Africa to connect, interact, close deals and manage their investments.

What then is Puttru?

Puttru is a business facilitation online platform that connects African energy companies to debt and equity investors, as well as support African energy companies to attract and secure strategic business partners, from all over the world. By cutting through the challenges of bringing investable businesses and serious investors and partners together, we bring down the high transaction costs of private sector investment in the African energy sector.

We are a company operating in the financial technology (FinTech) space, but don’t mistake us for a crowdfunding platform.

Firstly, unlike crowdfunding platforms, the Puttru platform is not open to the general public but will only register vetted investors and pre-screened energy companies. Furthermore, the platform won’t be used for financial transactions (e.g. buying company shares directly on the platform will not be possible), thus avoiding the issues crippling fundraising platforms in Africa. Fourthly, through a pool of globally renowned experts in relevant fields (including third-party services), companies will have access to offline advisory services to enhance their ability to secure investment.

Our brand is RIPE.

Timely, suitable and promising (i.e. synonyms of ripe) are all qualities we want you to see us for. However, just like Apple is known for its designs, we want you to know us as:

      1. Reputable (committed to excellence and accountable to our customers.
      2. Innovative (embracing avant-garde technologies and ideas).
      3. Principled (exuding qualities of transparency and never losing sight of our overarching
        goal: sustainable economic growth and development in African countries).
      4. Effective (capable and able to meet and exceed your expectations).

Unlike crowdfunding platforms, the Puttru platform is not open to the general public but will only register vetted investors and pre-screened energy companies.

COS for Customer Segment

COS stands for:  Catalysts, Opportunities and Surveyors. These are not just our customers, but our partners in Africa’s transformation.

  1. Catalysts: These are investment entities interested in providing debt or equity investment, otherwise called ‘Catalysts’. These are entities looking to expand into new locations, regions or business ventures and wish to identify a local company, with in-depth understanding of the local business environment and its unique challenges, to invest in. ‘Catalysts’ bring the capital to take the business to the next level.
  2. Opportunities: Are African energy companies looking for debt investors or equity investors, otherwise called investment ‘Opportunities’. These are energy businesses (state and non-state owned companies) who would like to increase their business performance, productivity and profitability by entering into partnerships with (1) Surveyors who can bring to the partnership more experience, and (2) investment deals with Catalysts.
  3. Surveyors: These are foreign energy companies wishing to enter a new market, otherwise called ‘Surveyors’. By ‘foreign’, these energy companies are mainly non-African registered companies (or African companies looking at entering another African country) by forming partnerships with local energy companies.

Africa’s energy market is a multi-trillion dollars, largely untapped opportunity. With Africa now having the fastest growing middle class in the world, the time has never been better to invest in a region where more than half of its population do not have access to modern energy services.

Some final words

As promised, being the first of this series, this article has focused on the basics. A number of these sections will be revisited and discussed in detail.

In the next article we will describe the Business Model Environment that has shaped the formation of Puttru. This will enable you understand the factors behind this innovation (in other words, the question: Why Puttru, why now?).

One key message from this article, which we would like you to leave with, is that we are uniquely crafted to respond to the needs of privately-held energy/power sector companies in Africa by removing a principle barrier to their ability to access capital. As is typical of such companies, valuation can be expensive and difficult due to a lack of exact financial information. By putting in place structures that facilitate transactions and address information asymmetry, Puttru allows market forces to identify investable energy businesses like no other solution currently on the market.

Our solution provides viable energy businesses with the investment package that works and, for investors, the precise information to make good investment decisions.

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