June 24, 2010, HONG KONG and REDWOOD CITY, Calif. — D.light Design, a global company that designs and manufactures solar powered consumer products for families without access to reliable electricity, today announced that it has secured USD5.5 million in Series B financing. The round is led by new investor Omidyar Network and includes all major Series A investors, including Acumen Fund, Nexus Venture Partners, Gray Matters Capital, Draper Fisher Jurvetson and Garage Technology Ventures.
“We are thrilled to have Omidyar Network on board as an investor. We appreciate the perspective they bring—they understand how social enterprise can solve problems and improve lives in emerging economies,” said Sam Goldman, CEO of D.light. “Their investment will allow us to scale rapidly to reach millions of people around the world who lack access to electricity, offering them affordable products that meet vital daily needs.”
In its first three years of operation, D.light has expanded distribution to over 30 countries and positively impacted the lives of over 1.25 million people worldwide. The new funding will support plans to bring economical products to more than 100 million customers by 2020. Specifically, D.light will rapidly increase distribution throughout Africa and Asia as well as expand its product line beyond solar lighting.
Omidyar Network, now D.light’s largest investor, was drawn to the company’s innovative product design, strong business model, and scalable approach to meeting the urgent needs of people in emerging markets. In geographies such as India and sub-Saharan Africa, D.light’s solar lanterns typically replace toxic kerosene lamps, providing life-changing improvements in personal health and security, as well as enhanced productivity and access to information.
Jayant Sinha, Managing Director of Omidyar Network India, will join D.light’s Board of Directors. Sinha brings 20 years of investing and strategy consulting experience to his role, as well as deep expertise advising businesses in emerging markets.
“Omidyar Network believes that D.light is at a critical inflection point on its path to massive social impact,” said Sinha. “Our investment enables D.light to scale its pursuit of customer-focused design with extreme affordability, a combination poised to unleash greater opportunity for millions.“
About D.light Design
D.light Design designs and manufactures high quality consumer products for families without access to reliable electricity. Our mission is to enable households without reliable electricity to attain the same quality of life as those with electricity. We will begin by replacing every kerosene lantern with clean, safe and bright light. By 2020, we aim to improve the lives of 100 million people. D.light is a 2010 finalist for the Ashden Awards for Sustainable Energy. It also won the Social Venture Network 2009 Innovation Award and was named one of the world’s top 100 clean technology enterprises by the CleanTech Group. To learn more, please visit www.dlightdesign.com.
About Omidyar Network
Omidyar Network is a philanthropic investment firm dedicated to harnessing the power of markets to create opportunity for people to improve their lives. Established in 2004 by eBay founder Pierre Omidyar and his wife Pam, the organization invests in and helps scale innovative organizations to catalyze economic and social change. To date, Omidyar Network has committed more than $330 million to for-profit companies and nonprofit organizations that foster economic advancement and encourage individual participation across multiple investment areas, including microfinance, property rights, government transparency, and social media. To learn more about Omidyar Network, visit www.omidyar.com.