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Why Khosla Impact Is Investing Nearly $2M in This Plug-and-Play Solar Firm
Off-grid applications are cleantech's next big market. Nowhere is this more true than in Africa, where the International Energy Agency predicts population growth will outstrip grid expansion to leave 645 million people without power.It’s predictably tough for companies in this vast market to stick out from the pack. In order to get a sense of how companies can achieve success in this space, I sat down to chat with Mansoor Hamayun, the CEO of U.K.-based BBOXX, on the eve of a Series A investment from Khosla Impact.
- Categories
- Energy
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
- Tags
- impact investing, solar
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Mobile Clinics Bring Health Care to the Countryside in South Africa
South Africa has a serious lack of healthcare facilities in rural areas but some new solar-powered mobile clinics are changing that.
- Categories
- Energy, Health Care
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
- Tags
- reproductive health, solar
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Mobile Clinics Bring Health Care to South Africa Countryside
South Africa has a serious lack of healthcare facilities in rural areas. In many cases, people must walk for kilometers to reach the closest clinic. But some new solar-powered mobile clinics are changing that.
- Categories
- Energy, Health Care
- Tags
- solar
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Lighting the path of profitability for base-of-the-pyramid enterprises
It’s every small business’s dream to be profiled not only by mainstream media flagships like the New York Times and The Economist but also trendsetting outlets like “The Colbert Report” and Fast Company. And by this measure of media attention, d.light design, provider of solar light and power products for the developing world, is a resounding success. But as any enterprise knows, generating buzz about your product is not the same as having customers actually buy it. d.light represents that most ambitious of social enterprises: One that aims to turn a profit while solving a social problem. Dubbed “hybrid” organizations by Harvard Business School professor Julie Battilana, these businesses differ from other social enterprises, who often rely on grant-based funding, rather than revenue, to sustain operations.
- Categories
- Energy
- Tags
- Base of the Pyramid, solar
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Press Release: Barefoot Power launches new portable, integrated GO systems
Barefoot Power's latest product release, the portable Barefoot GO solar system, launches this month offering an exciting new option for homes and businesses to increase access to renewable energy in developing countries. The Barefoot GO is a portable unit, so it can be used as a torch, ceiling or wall mounted. Barefoot GO lights can also be used as a torch, ceiling or wall mounted. Barefoot Go lights can also be reversed in the
- Categories
- Energy
- Tags
- solar
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Bringing Solar To Impoverished Towns, With A Model Straight From The Corporate World
Disillusioned by corporate life, Manuel Aguilar and Juan Rodriguez started Quetsol, an organization that uses business acumen to supply rural Guatemalans with solar power.
- Categories
- Energy
- Region
- Latin America
- Tags
- rural development, solar
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NextThought Monday – An Alternative to Alternative Energy: Will microfinance embrace biogas for the BoP?
Solar was once the wild west of alternative energy. Today, microfinance banks see it as a solid investment, even for poor clients, and bio-gas may follow its footsteps.
- Tags
- microfinance, solar
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Solar energy: African economies’ secret weapon
In recent years, the continent has become a haven for renewable energy, spearheaded by small, tech savvy companies keen on capitalizing off of the global south's hunger for energy.
- Categories
- Energy
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
- Tags
- Base of the Pyramid, solar
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