d.light today announced it has secured $22.5 million in financing to grow its PayGo business globally and support its mission of providing solar energy solutions for households and small businesses around the world, transforming the way off-grid families use and pay for power. The PayGo financing technology will help d.light\u2019s growing list of partners provide modern, clean and reliable energy solutions to people living in off- grid communities who can\u2019t afford the upfront cost of a solar home system.<\/p>\n
The company raised $15 million in Series D equity from KawiSafi Ventures Fund, Energy Access Ventures, Omidyar Network and NewQuest Capital Partners. Debt funding was also raised through SunFunder.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are thankful for the support from these global organizations, which is instrumental for achieving our goal to bring safe and affordable energy to off-grid families,\u201d said d.light CFO Kamal Lath. \u201cConsumer financing for solar home systems makes the technology significantly more affordable for our customers. This funding will enable more families and business owners to enjoy access to the affordable, clean and reliable solar energy solutions they need to improve their quality of life.\u201d<\/p>\n
The funding round also includes over $5 million in grant funding. Shell Foundation, the U.S. Agency for International Development – Development Innovation Ventures (USAID-DIV) and United Nations Capital Development Fund (UNCDF) were key contributors to this round. d.light which has so far reached over 1.6 million households in Kenya with its off the grid solar solutions, will spend a significant portion of the investment in Kenya and the East African market.<\/p>\n
\u201cEnergy Access Ventures works closely with companies bringing reliable energy access to rural and peri-urban areas, and d.light is the perfect addition to our portfolio,\u201d said Dr. Michael H. Gera, Managing Partner of Energy Access Ventures, who will be joining the d.light board. \u201cThis is our largest investment to date, and we wholeheartedly believe in d.light\u2019s efforts to raise more people up the energy access ladder.\u201d<\/p>\n
As an early pioneer in solar lighting and home systems, d.light has paved the way for the development of the off-grid solar industry and is now the industry\u2019s largest manufacturer. With this new funding, d.light will focus on ramping up sales for its D30 solar home system, as well as bringing new products to market that can power other appliances, like TVs and fans. Currently, d.light operates five distribution hubs in East Africa, West Africa, India, Southeast Asia and the United States.<\/p>\n
As of August 2016, d.light has impacted the lives of over 65 million people globally, including 17 million school-aged children, with its solar lighting and solar home system solutions. The organization recently worked with the Give Power Foundation to connect 120 schools in Kenya with solar lighting. d.light aims to empower 100 million people around the world with affordable and reliable solar by 2020.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
KawiSafi Ventures and Energy Access Ventures, along with USAID, Shell Foundation and others, partner with leading provider of solar energy in the developing world<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":24,"featured_media":5184,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[4746,4748],"tags":[5191,5201,5195,5192,5194,1252,5200,5202,5199,5198,5197,5193,5187,5190,5189,5196,5188],"class_list":["post-5183","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-renewables-2","category-solar","tag-d-light","tag-dr-michael-h-gera","tag-energy-access-ventures","tag-give-power-foundation","tag-kawisafi-ventures","tag-kenya","tag-newquest-capital-partners","tag-off-grid-solar-markets","tag-omidyar-network","tag-paygo","tag-shell-foundation","tag-solar-lighting","tag-u-s-agency-for-international-development-development-innovation-ventures","tag-uncdf","tag-united-nations-capital-development-fund","tag-usaid","tag-usaid-div","entry"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.oilnewskenya.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/09\/DLIGHT-IMAGE-1.png?fit=350%2C350&ssl=1","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p5JWkQ-1lB","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":10972,"url":"https:\/\/www.oilnewskenya.com\/index.php\/green-climate-fund-invests-150-million-in-desert-to-power-g5-sahel-financing-facility\/","url_meta":{"origin":5183,"position":0},"title":"Green Climate Fund Invests $150 million in Desert to Power G5 Sahel Financing Facility","author":"","date":"October 10, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"The African Development Bank has welcomed $150 million investment in its Desert to Power G5 Financing Facility from the Green Climate Fund (GCF). 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The plants will supply low cost, clean and reliable electricity in Maroua and Guider in the Grand-North\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Central Africa"","block_context":{"text":"Central Africa","link":"https:\/\/www.oilnewskenya.com\/index.php\/category\/countries\/central-africa\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.oilnewskenya.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/Solar-Energy-2.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.oilnewskenya.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/Solar-Energy-2.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.oilnewskenya.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/Solar-Energy-2.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.oilnewskenya.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/Solar-Energy-2.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.oilnewskenya.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/Solar-Energy-2.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":11679,"url":"https:\/\/www.oilnewskenya.com\/index.php\/kenya-globeleqs-malindi-solar-plant-is-generating-clean-energy-to-the-national-grid\/","url_meta":{"origin":5183,"position":3},"title":"KENYA: Globeleq’s Malindi Solar Plant is Generating Clean Energy to the National Grid","author":"","date":"January 24, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"Globeleq and its project partner, Africa Energy Development Corporation (AEDC), has indicated that its 52MWp Malindi Solar photovoltaic (PV) plant has been exporting 40 MWac of power into the national grid since 14 December 2021.\u00a0 The power plant is delivering enough clean and renewable power to supply approximately 250,000 residential\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Countries"","block_context":{"text":"Countries","link":"https:\/\/www.oilnewskenya.com\/index.php\/category\/countries\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.oilnewskenya.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/Solar-PV.jpg?fit=929%2C616&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.oilnewskenya.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/Solar-PV.jpg?fit=929%2C616&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.oilnewskenya.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/Solar-PV.jpg?fit=929%2C616&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.oilnewskenya.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/Solar-PV.jpg?fit=929%2C616&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":11752,"url":"https:\/\/www.oilnewskenya.com\/index.php\/ghana-afdb-extends-27-39m-grant-to-support-development-of-mini-grid-and-solar-pv-net-metering\/","url_meta":{"origin":5183,"position":4},"title":"GHANA: AfDB Extends $27.39M Grant to support development of Mini Grid and Solar PV net metering","author":"","date":"February 2, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"The Board of Directors of the African Development Fund has approved a $27.39 million grant to Ghana for the development of renewable energy investments in the mini grid and net metering space.\u00a0 The project involves the development of 35 mini grids, standalone solar photovoltaic systems in 400 schools, 200 units\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Countries"","block_context":{"text":"Countries","link":"https:\/\/www.oilnewskenya.com\/index.php\/category\/countries\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.oilnewskenya.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/Solar-Energy.png?fit=588%2C391&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.oilnewskenya.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/Solar-Energy.png?fit=588%2C391&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.oilnewskenya.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/Solar-Energy.png?fit=588%2C391&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":5799,"url":"https:\/\/www.oilnewskenya.com\/index.php\/afd-eu-set-up-e24-million-to-develop-renewable-energy-in-africa\/","url_meta":{"origin":5183,"position":5},"title":"AFD, EU Set Up \u20ac24 million to develop Renewable Energy in Africa","author":"","date":"March 21, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"AFD Group - in partnership with the European Union \u2013 have unveiled the \"African Renewable Energy Scale-Up facility\", designed to boost private sector investment in on-grid and off-grid renewable energy production in Africa. 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