Wednesday, April 29, 2026

Tag: Africa

PAYGo Pioneer SolarHome in Asia Lands Series A

Asia-based SolarHome has nabbed a pre-Series A, raising its total funding now to $1.1 million. Its use of PayGo, an emerging "rent-to-own" way for low-income customers to pay for electricity was a main factor in approval of the deal, says Uberis, the impact investor who led the deal.

PayGo Is Emerging as a New Payments Solution for Off-Grid

PayGo is emerging as a way for emerging off-grid renewable energy operators to fuel their operations, and expansion, to address the needs of low-income households who remain disconnected from electricity. The solution is being run in partnership with Mastercard Foundation.

The Development Challenge, and Opportunity, of Electrifying Africa

Improvements in technology, like availability of solar panels, and a kinder climate for investing is starting to come together for Africa, a region that has remained a challenge to extend electricity to.

Finding Talent A Bottleneck, Shortlist Founder Asserts

Finding great talent has now become a become a bottleneck in a space that is growing fast, argues Shortlist founder Paul Breloff.

Vodafone’s WIP 2017 Winners Announced in Chicago

Infectious disease platform provider PathVis, wireless anti-poaching collar-maker Wiper and fintech DreamSave wins Vodafone's annual contest at Landmark's Social Innovation Summit in Chicago.

Off-Grid Energy Toolkit to Identify Solutions

MIT D-Lab's Energy Assessment Toolkit is one example tool that aspiring solution developers can utilize to assess the energy needs of remote rural areas like Pakistan's. The tool has been piloted in West Africa, India and Latin America.

Decentralized Renewable Electricity Cheapest in Africa, Dutch Report Says

Investments to make electricity more accessible in rural Africa need to focus on smaller-scale projects and embrace renewables like solar, wind, and other more innovative off-grid technologies. It not only makes more sense but is also, in the longer term, cheaper, the report says.

SRI Continues to Grow 12% CAGR, Reaches $23T in 2016, GSIA report says

Invest Impactly - GSIA growth 2016
Global assets professionally managed under sustainable and responsible investment (SRI) strategies grew to nearly $23 trillion from $18.3 trillion in 2014, according to GSIA Global Sustainable Investment Alliance's biennial report. Climate change, China and the increasing awareness of sustainability were the main drivers.

Chivas Ventures Unveils Top 30 Global Social Enterprise Finalists

March 20th, 2017 Chivas Regal unveils $1 million global social enterprise finalists
Chivas Ventures has announced 30 finalists out of about 6,000 startups across the planet at its accelerator program at. The innovative and diverse group of 30 will go to Los Angeles in July to claim a share of $1 million in cash.

Lelapa Fund Shifts to Co-investing Model from Crowdfunding

The new platform places increased importance on the sourcing of high-potential startups with Lelapa Fund conducting significant due diligence in advance; rather than pushing large volumes of lightly-vetted deals.