BioMassters, a Rwandan pellet cooking company has secured funding from Acumen to finance the construction of a new fuel production facility .
Established in 2020, the company produces pellet fuel out of biomass waste materials and supply Tier-4 gasification pellet stoves to its customers. Its stoves are locally manufactured in Rwanda and run on pellet fuel sourced from biomass waste materials in partnership with a forest management company in Rwanda.
“Our partnership with Acumen reinforces our shared vision for creating impactful change through clean cooking solutions,” says Claudia Muench, CEO and co-founder of BioMassters. “Together, we are poised to accelerate our growth, scale our operations, and continue to innovate, transforming how communities cook while addressing global climate challenges.”
BioMassters aims to replace charcoal production and charcoal cooking by providing modern, affordable and low-carbon pellet fuel production and cooking solutions, based on locally produced fuel from waste materials.
In the process of establishing a low-carbon cooking solution with a renewable fuel supply chain, BioMassters creates green jobs, contributes to a circular economy, sharply reduces emissions, reduces the cost of cooking for households and changes lives.
Since launching in 2020, BioMassters has built a customer base of 5,000 households and small businesses across Rwanda, with a particular focus on customers in urban and peri-urban locations. About 30% of these customers live on less than $3.65 per day, but the company has also found traction with more affluent families who want a clean, inexpensive alternative in the face of soaring energy prices. In switching to BioMassters, customers report 30% savings on costs of fuel, 80% savings in time spent cooking, and 90% reduction in smoke.
BioMassters will use Acumen’s funds to finance the construction of a new fuel production facility to increase production allowing the company to reach more customers.
Acumen’s investment will also support distribution of stoves and help expand the company’s network of retail shops. Combined, these efforts will enable BioMassters to reach 25,000 households and small businesses with clean cooking solutions.
“We are excited to announce our investment in BioMassters, the largest manufacturer of pellet fuel out of biomass waste materials in East Africa,” says Chris Maranga, who leads Acumen’s work in East Africa. “Being locally produced, pellets result in lower capital expenditure compared to connecting households to electricity, offering a stable and sustainable energy solution unaffected by global price fluctuations and geopolitical factors. Our investment in BioMasters is additive to our already existing clean cooking portfolio, and we’re looking with this capital to continue to tackle global energy poverty.”
Compared to modern stoves, charcoal cooking is slow, expensive, and unhealthy for people and the planet. Despite these drawbacks, nearly a third of the global population relies on charcoal cooking. In Rwanda, that figure rises to a staggering 93%.The pellets are priced 30% lower than charcoal, ensuring affordability for customers and offering a consistent cooking experience akin to liquefied petroleum gas.