Here’s a milestone you don’t always hear: d.light design has reached 10 million lives with their solar powered lighting products.
The company, which started operating five years ago, sells lighting solutions adopting solar and LED technology to bottom of the pyramid households in over 40 countries.
“The vision for d.light from the very beginning was to make a huge impact in individual lives on a global scale,” said d.light co-founder Sam Goldman. “We are extremely proud that ten million individual people in the world now have access to a brighter future because of our company’s products, which positively affect a household’s income, economic potential, and health.”
“We are thrilled at this achievement,” said President Ned Tozun, “but we also realize that our work is just beginning. There are still over a billion people without electricity, and we want all of them to enjoy the benefits of clean, safe and bright light.”
Their cheapest lantern – the S1 – sells for as little as $8 and makes it a cost- and life-saving alternative to kerosene lanterns for those without electricity. It can act as a lighting source, mobile charger or be carried around, hung on the wall, or placed on any surface.
Like many successful social enterprises serving the bottom of the pyramid, it benefits from funding from a variety of impact investment funds, including Omidyar Network, Acumen Fund, and Gray Matters Capital.
The social enterprise has next as their target to reach 50 million people by 2015 and 100 million people by 2020.