NAIROBI, Kenya, 24 June 2021 – SAP SE (NYSE: SAP) today announced that Bboxx, a next generation clean energy and utility provider, has selected the Grow by SAP cloud offering to scale the business to meet its ambitious goal to solve energy poverty.
With 770 million people currently living without access to energy, Bboxx was founded in 2010 to end energy poverty. Bboxx manufactures, distributes and finances decentralised solar powered systems in developing countries. Through affordable, reliable and clean energy provision, the company is positively impacting the lives of over 2 million people with its products and services. Bboxx is delivering its products and services to underserved customers in rural areas through its innovative technology Bboxx Pulse® which is Bboxx’s own state-of-the-art comprehensive management platform. Bboxx Pulse® enables the growth of next generation, global distributed utility businesses and enables them to manage scale as customers, employees and products are dispersed across remote locations.
This requires a strong accounting and supply chain backend, so Bboxx was looking for a cloud-based platform that would provide scalable market leading software and embedded best practice to help expand its footprint into new markets. Bboxx selected SAP Business ByDesign – Supply chain and Finance with Grow By SAP, an exclusive program for hypergrowth companies. Phase 1 of the project went live in Asia in May 2021. This is just the beginning, Phase 2 is due to go live in the UK, France and Rwanda in September 2021, and Phase 3 in DRC, Kenya, Togo and Nigeria in December 2021. During Phase 3 SAP Business ByDesign will integrate with Bboxx Pulse®. The SAP Business ByDesign implementation is being handled by business transformation and Grow by SAP partner Orchard House Solutions.
Using SAP ERP, finance and supply chain solutions, Bboxx will gain significant efficiencies through widespread automation of processes and using best practice principles embedded in SAP. Having a single cloud base instance for finance and supply chain will help Bboxx achieve a globally consistent process and still allow for local reporting needs.
Anthony Osijo, Group CFO at Bboxx, said: “Bboxx is currently operating in 10 countries, and we have bold ambitions to hit 23 countries within five years. We are positively impacting 1.8 million lives directly with the provision of clean, reliable, and affordable energy. We want to accelerate access to power in developing countries and continue to transform lives and unlocking potential through access to energy. Because of the scale of these targets, it’s vital to have a strategic global partner like SAP that is flexible and innovative enough to want to work with us on that journey.”
Romain Gauthier, Regional Vice President – New Customers EMEA North at SAP, said: “SAP was the right partner to support Bboxx’s bold mission to end energy poverty across the globe by providing a highly flexible and scalable single cloud infrastructure. Grow by SAP program has been specifically designed to support fast growth scaleups and startups and will provide Bboxx with advanced supply chain, finance and accounting, and customer service across three major continents, whilst also ensuring that it retains its competitive cost base. When it comes to helping businesses expand their footprint and grow into new markets, SAP is a true strategic partner.”
