Simpa.
Location
India
Sector
Energy generation and supply
Type of Investment
Risk Capital
Project Stage
Length of Investment
2016-2018
Investment Overview
A $2.3m equity investment to scale up an off-grid PAYG model that combines both financial inclusion and clean energy access, giving choice to rural families in India.
The Development Challenge
400 million Indians and 1.5 billion people worldwide lack reliable access to electricity. They are spending $50+ billion per year on unclean solutions, such as kerosene fuel for small lanterns. These solutions are usually expensive, environmentally damaging, and unsafe.
The Innovation
Simpa customers make a small initial payment to get a solar electric system installed at their home or business. Customers then purchase "energy days" using a prepaid or pay-as-you-go mobile payment system. Upon completion of the contract, customers can take ownership of their systems, receiving clean electricity. The model is enabled by Simpa's patented technology platform. Since its inception, Simpa has sold over 4 million clean energy days, delivered over 1 GWh of clean power, and created over 3,000 full and part-time jobs in rural India.
Our Investment
GIF’s $2.3m equity investment (as part of a larger equity round of $8.4m and matching debt commitments of $6.5m) aimed to enable Simpa to expand geographically into thousands more villages and towards its goal of 10 million solar rooftops.
Investment Objective
Grow customer base, including lower income customers.
Why we invested
An organisation committed to learning/experimenting and receptive to feedback, and overall a leading candidate relative to other Indian solar home system solutions.
A talented and diverse set of operating and financing partners.
A strong operating team with a good mix of deep local knowledge and international experience.
Simpa in numbers
People worldwide lack reliable access to electricity
Spent annually on unclean energy solutions
Clean 'energy days' sold by Simpa since inception