Singapore's SolarHome gets $10m for Myanmar push

It follows the provision of $4.2 million in convertible note funding earlier this year from Beenext - a VC firm that spun out of Gordian Capital last year - Insitor Impact Asia Fund, and Trirec, a renewable energy-focused holding company. The capital is intended to allow for the installation of solar power systems for 100,000 off-grid homes in Myanmar.

SolarHome was launched last year by Singapore financial technology venture builder Forum with a view to providing "pay-as-you-go" solar services in Southeast Asia, while also helping underbanked populations establish credit histories essential to accessing financial services. It claims to install new solar systems at a rate of about 3,000 units a month.

"Accessing debt finance on such a scale at this stage in our development has significantly outperformed our expectations," Ted Martynov, CEO of SolarHome, said in a statement. "We believe this is a testament to the strength of our professional team, and the relentless focus on operational quality that we bring to the pay-as-you-go space in Southeast Asia."

Rent-to-own subscription is said to dramatically lower the barriers to adoption of solar technology for bottom-of-pyramid clients. SolarHome estimates that its addressable market for this service encompasses some 27 million households across Southeast Asia living outside of an electric grid. Partners include the IFC-World Bank's Lighting Global platform.

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• Topics
• Southeast Asia
• Cleantech
• Infrastructure
• Singapore
• energy
• Crowdfunding