D.Light, a US-based off-grid solar system provider that counts conglomerate Mahindra & Mahindra as an investor, raised $5m in equity financing and $5.5m in grant funding yesterday.
Norwegian state-owned Norfund supplied the equity portion of the round, while the grant came from Shell Foundation, a charitable foundation formed by oil and gas producer Shell, and Beyond the Grid, a non-profit organisation looking to bring clean energy to Africa.
D.Light makes and distributes micro-scale solar lighting and energy systems to off-grid communities in Africa and Asia, and has sold more than 15 million solar products across 62 countries through pay-as-you-go-plans.
The company, which has now raised $72.5m in financing, plans to use the new capital to further expand its operations. It raised $15m in equity funding from KawiSafi Ventures Fund, Energy Access Ventures, Omidyar Network and NewQuest Capital Partners in September 2016.
The 2016 funding was secured alongside $5m in grant funding from Shell Foundation, US Agency for International Development – Development Innovation Ventures and United Nations Capital Development Fund, and $2.5m in debt from SunFunder.
Mahindra & Mahindra invested in D.Light as part of $6m series A round in 2008 that was led by Nexus India Capital and backed by Draper Fisher Jurvetson, Garage Technology Ventures, Acumen Fund and Gray Matters Capital.
Kamal Lath, D.Light’s chief financial officer, said: “We are thankful to our investors for this support, which helps D.Light accelerate development and distribution of our increasingly popular solar home systems and portable solar product.
“By enabling us to build on our product offerings, this funding helps us empower people to improve their quality of life.”
– Image courtesy of D.Light Design