Nigerian Startup PowerLabs Secures Funding to Tackle Electricity Issues

A Lagos-based energy and climate-tech startup, PowerLabs, has secured a pre-seed funding round to address Nigeria’s persistent electricity challenges and improve energy reliability for businesses.

The funding round was led by Breega, with participation from Catalyst Fund, Mercy Corps Ventures, and Kaleo Ventures.

According to the company, the investment will be used to scale its artificial intelligence-powered platform, Pai Enterprise, across commercial and industrial sectors in Nigeria, as well as support expansion into other West African markets.

The development comes amid ongoing challenges in Nigeria’s power sector, where businesses increasingly rely on a mix of diesel generators, solar systems, inverters, and battery storage due to unstable grid supply. Managing these multiple energy sources has become both costly and complex for organisations.

Data shows that Nigeria’s manufacturing sector alone spent about ₦1.11 trillion on alternative energy in 2024, representing a 42 per cent increase from the previous year, underscoring the growing burden of self-generated power.

Chief Executive Officer and Co-Founder of PowerLabs, Tobechukwu Arinze, explained that the company aims to transform how businesses manage energy. He noted that its platform is designed to integrate and coordinate various power sources in real time, enabling organisations to operate more efficiently and reduce costs.

Unlike traditional energy monitoring systems, the Pai Enterprise platform actively manages supply and demand by sensing, analysing, and responding to energy needs across multiple sources. This allows businesses to run intelligent microgrids, improving reliability and operational resilience.

Investors highlighted that the startup’s approach reflects a broader shift towards decentralised energy solutions in emerging markets, where unreliable national grids have driven demand for smarter energy management systems.

PowerLabs plans to use the funding to enhance its predictive algorithms, expand deployment, and deepen integration across energy assets, positioning itself as a key player in Nigeria’s evolving energy technology landscape.

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