NoorNation Secures $1.05M to Revolutionise Egypt’s Solar-Powered Farming

Cairo-based solar and water startup NoorNation has closed a $1.05 million pre-seed round, bringing in Leena Farms Group, Africa-focused climate tech investor Catalyst Fund, and Saudi venture capital firm KBW Ventures. The funding was announced by founder and chief executive Ragy Ramadan during a recent industry event, where he said Leena Farms signed the deal after nine months of due diligence. It is a notable shift, really: one of NoorNation’s biggest customers has now become a shareholder too.

That changes the relationship in a very practical way. Leena Farms is no longer only buying power from NoorNation, but stepping in as a strategic investor and development partner. The move also formalises an existing agreement under which NoorNation will build five solar plants with a combined capacity of 1.1 megawatts across Leena Farms sites in Bahariya Oasis and Minya.

For Leena Farms, this did not happen overnight. The agribusiness group moved out of hospitality and into agriculture back in 2010, but spent years looking for the right solar partner. According to Mohannad Khodr, founder and managing partner at Leena Farms, the group needed a company with enough technical strength to roll out solar systems at scale across different operations. Well… I mean, that sounds spot on to me. In agriculture, plenty of firms talk a big game on sustainability, but scaling it on the ground is where things usually become a bit of a faff.

Three pilot projects seem to have sealed the deal. Mohamed Wahdan, group chief executive at Leena Farms, said all 30 wells at the group’s 3,000-feddan Medjool date farm in Bahariya Oasis were running on diesel when the company measured its carbon footprint in 2021 and 2022. NoorNation’s first project there was a hybrid solar-diesel system for a well around 1,000 metres deep, monitored through a live dashboard comparing both energy sources. After that came a battery-backed solar setup at the farm’s palm cultivation school, and then a 400-kilowatt system at Leena Farms’ 520-room Sultan Gardens resort in Sharm El Sheikh.

Ramadan said the Bahariya well alone saved more than EGP 3 million in diesel costs, while Sultan Gardens cut its electricity bill from the national grid by more than EGP 2.2 million. Those are not small figures, and I reckon they explain why the customer-to-investor jump happened now rather than later. In the startup world, proof of concept is everything, and in climate tech it is even more so because flashy ideas mean little if they cannot survive harsh operating conditions in farms, resorts, and remote areas.

The round will also help expand NoorNation’s solar irrigation-as-a-service model for small farmers. Leena Farms is expected to support financing for that model alongside other partners, including the World Food Programme, according to Ramadan. The setup is designed to remove the upfront cost barrier: farmers do not pay in advance, while NoorNation installs its solar-powered Lifebox unit, shifts the farm from flood irrigation to drip irrigation, and then charges for water by the hour. Mohamed Khaled, NoorNation’s co-founder and chief technology officer, said farmers can top up credit through the MyFawry app.

To reduce payment risk, NoorNation works through local community development associations, with ownership of the systems transferred to farmers after five to seven years, Ramadan said. Khaled added that three pilot projects under this model are already running and generating revenue, including one in Aswan developed with the World Food Programme and the Adaptation Fund.

The broader market problem is hard to ignore. Agriculture accounts for about 13.7% of Egypt’s GDP and 19% of employment, while around 94% of the country’s water needs depend on the Nile. Even so, a large share of the sector still runs on diesel. Ramadan said roughly 95% of farmers in older agricultural lands continue to irrigate using diesel pumps, adding pressure on both farmers and the state, especially since diesel remains a major part of Egypt’s import bill. Khaled said most also still rely on flood irrigation, which wastes about 70% of Nile water.

And believe it or not, the maths quickly becomes brutal for small farmers. Ramadan said a 20-horsepower solar pumping station costs around EGP 1 million, putting direct ownership out of reach for many. That is exactly the gap NoorNation is trying to fill with its pay-as-you-go model. Around Arageek, we often see founders chasing scale with a lot of noise around them; this one feels more grounded, and that matters in a sector where adoption depends on cash flow, trust, and whether the kit actually works in the field.

NoorNation officially launched in March 2022 and develops and assembles its systems at a factory in Abu Rawash. Its products range from Lifebox units, which run pumps and desalination stations on solar without batteries, to grid-connected systems for hotels and factories. Ramadan said the company has completed around 66 projects with a total capacity of 7 megawatts across 13 governorates, serving more than 5,200 feddans. Outside Egypt, it has also carried out projects in the UAE and supplied hospitals in Tajikistan with two Lifebox desalination units in partnership with Unicef.

The startup is also preparing to launch a new version of its platform by the end of December, adding automated irrigation and remote sensing for soil and water. On the flip side, a lot now depends on execution, not just kit or funding. Still, this round gives NoorNation a stronger base to push deeper into one of Egypt’s most stubborn problems — costly diesel use and wasteful water practices — and that is definately one to watch.

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