Greenlight Planet

Invested December 5, 2017; partial exit April 2022

Profile

Greenlight Planet (GLP) is a leading provider of affordable off-grid solar home system financing to underserved rural populations across Africa and Asia. GLP provides, distributes, and finances Sun King branded solar units across 50 countries. In Africa the Company extends financing for its products, and consumers are able to make repayments through mobile payments systems.

Headquarters

Nairobi, Kenya & Mumbai, India

Region

Africa & Asia

Sector

Specialty Finance

Sub-sector

Off-grid solar asset financing

Fund

Apis Growth Fund I

Where did the idea behind Greenlight Planet come from?

The idea of the business came at university, where the co-founders of Greenlight Planet met, and we had worked with a student NGO group. Over a summer, we installed an electricity generator in a village in India, though the question was how we can do this for the other 100,000 villages in India that needed electricity. That led to our prototyping solar powered LED lanterns, with the aim of solving this problem on a global scale.

Which are the biggest opportunities for Greenlight Planet’s business?

The biggest opportunity for Greenlight Planet lies in continuing to help energy- and financially- excluded consumers to gain access to transformational devices which improve the quality of their lives. By extending affordable financing, over time we expect to be able to expand the product set that is available to these consumers, and help them to move up the energy ladder.

How does Greenlight Planet contribute to its local audience?

Affordable access to energy through Greenlight Planet’s off-grid solar devices produces clear environmental, social, health and economic benefits, and helps families to live brighter, healthier and more productive lives, whilst reducing harmful greenhouse emissions.

“The Apis team have been great partners these past five years, understanding the needs of Sun King customers and believing in our team every step of the way.”

— T. Patrick Walsh, Co-founder and CEO at Sun King (formerly Greenlight Planet)