Over 1.2 billion people, nearly 17% of the world's population, live off the electric grid. A Chicagoland startup wants to lighten that number.
Today, Greenlight Planet announced that it has raised $10M to develop and distribute solar energy products for off-the-grid homes in the developing world. Founded in 2007, the Riverside, Illinois-based startup has sold over 3 million solar lighting and phone charging devices, improving the lives of over 15 million people living in rural, under-electrified areas.
"As a result of this financing, we're building the world's largest rooftop solar consumer base in the developing world, and we're investing especially to expand distribution in Sub-Saharan Africa," says Anish Thakkar, the company's CEO and Co-Founder.
The startup is targeting that area of the world because over 600 million people in Sub-Saharan Africa live off the electric grid and spend $11 billion annually on kerosene and batteries.
The company's flagship product line, Sun King, is comprised of affordable solar lighting and phone charging devices that retail as low as $10. To date, Greenlight's devices will generate a total of 55 million kilowatt-hours of energy, offsetting 1.5 million tons of CO2, saving their owners over $340 million in fuel costs over their lifetime. Greenlight has sold 1.5M Sun King devices in the past 12 months and expects to reach 100 million off-grid households by 2020.
"Life changes for the better with Sun King – incomes increase thanks to extended working hours after dark, children study more, and the danger of a catastrophic kerosene lantern fire is eliminated, as families put away their kerosene lanterns forever," explained Anish Thakkar, the company's CEO.
The round was led by Fidelity Growth Partners India, an India-focused private equity arm of Fidelity Worldwide that specializes in on-sector growth capital investing.
Explained the firm's Managing Director, Kabir Narang, "We see tremendous potential to provide affordable solar energy solutions for consumers in the developing world. Greenlight Planet has established itself as a product leader with a strong brand in the fast-growing off-grid energy segment."
(Image via Greenlight Planet)
