Silicon Valley pay-as-you-go solar system manufacturer and financier d.light has raised an $18 million investment.
The company claims to have provided solar power to more than 94 million people without access to reliable electricity since 2007.
It plans to use the funding for new markets and expand in its current markets including Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Ethiopia, and Nigeria, according to a press release.
Listen to GHOGH with Jamarlin Martin | Episode 25: Bria Sullivan
Jamarlin talks to Bria Sullivan, a trailblazing mobile-app developer, about her work at Google and how she is helping others get in the game.
The investment was provided by a consortium of lenders including
U.S.-based solar energy investment firm SunFunder, Connecticut-based impact investor Developing World Markets, and Social Investment Management & Advisors, a social impact investor with offices in Kenya, Pakistan, the U.S., and Switzerland.
Access to electricity remains a serious issue in Africa for 57.2 percent of people on the continent, the World Bank reports.
d.light offers solar systems that include lights and mobile phone chargers that make it possible for poorer families to afford power depending on how much they earn, Weetracker reports.
The Silicon Valley solar firm claims to have provided power for over 94 million people and offset over 22 tons of CO2 emissions through their home solar systems, according to their website.
d.light’s total funding to date amounts to $197 million, Crunchbase reports.
Solar energy investment firm SunFunder has been busy in the first months of 2019.
The investor has funded Uganda-based solar energy firm SolarNow with a $9 million credit fund, and SunFunder was also part of a $2 million investment in Mozambique’s SolarWorks, Techpoint reported.
The solar investment firm also contributed to pay-as-you-go solar company Peg Africa‘s $25 million Series C funding round in March, according to a press release.
Earlier in 2019, d.light was named by the London Stock Exchange as one of the most inspirational tech companies in Africa.
The London Stock Exchange, in partnership with Africa Development Bank Group, CDC Group, and PwC, conducted research to identify Africa’s most inspiring small and medium-sized enterprises.
