Posts by Kat Harrison
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Monday
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February 26
2018‘Eye-opening’ Impact Assessment: How Benchmarks Can Boost Social and Business Outcomes
For the last ten years, Acumen has been investing in off-grid energy companies in the developing world. In its new Energy Impact Report, the impact investing nonprofit talked directly to thousands of customers about their experiences - good and bad - with these companies’ energy products. Acumen's Kat Harrison discusses the survey's revealing results.
- Categories
- Energy, Impact Assessment, Investing
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Thursday
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September 8
2016What We’re Learning Every Step of the Energy Ladder
We spent the last year at Acumen collecting impact data on companies across our portfolio using our Lean Data approach, which harnesses the power of technology to give voice to low-income customers and allows us to provide quality customer feedback to drive business decisions for our investees. From these surveys, our entrepreneurs will get real insight into their customers: who they are, how and where they utilize energy, how much energy they use, and what they spend on a weekly or monthly basis, among other valuable feedback.
- Categories
- Energy, Impact Assessment, Technology
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Friday
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September 19
2014Checking Out Solar at the ‘Light Library’: SunnyMoney designed a distribution model allowing customers to test products before buying
Over the years SunnyMoney, SolarAid’s social enterprise and one of the largest sellers of solar lights in Africa has been inundated with requests to use and test the lights to help build trust and demand without undermining a sustainable market. In response SunnyMoney designed the Light Library, a distribution model that gives would-be customers that opportunity.
- Tags
- consumer products, research, solar
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Tuesday
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January 21
2014Respect Quality, Build Trust, Be Patient: These and other tips on shaping a solar market at the BoP
How do you influence what choices low-income people or those living at the base of the pyramid make? And how can you give them the information to make informed decisions?
SolarAid faced the same challenges that many organisations do when bringing a new technology to a low-income market. Here’s how we dealt with them.- Categories
- Energy, Entrepreneurship