d.light - Light for the Poor

D.light, a startup company dedicated to eradicating kerosene lighting by providing an affordable, high-quality solar LED alternative is being steered by two of our very own - Ned and Dorcas Cheng-Tozun who moved to Shenzhen, China in June to head-up D.light's office there.  Ned and Dorcas recently returned to share an update with The River that we are printing below.

_______

D.light Design’s mission is to replace every kerosene lantern in the world with safe, bright, and high-quality lighting.  There are 1.6 billion people in the world who don't have access to reliable electricity, and those are the households we want to reach with lighting products that are appropriate and affordable.

A lot has happened since we moved to China in June:

  • We officially launched our product line that features two different product series of solar lights
  • Received next round of investment in October
  • Sales have been rapidly increasing in the last months, with market tests ongoing throughout the world. We’ve reached 10s of thousands of families in 2008 and hope to reach 100s of thousands in 2009.
  • We recently opened a third international office in Tanzania in Africa--in addition to our offices in India and China-which will focus on East Africa sales
  • When we left to China in June, we had 6 people. We now have over 40 employees in 4 countries and 3 continents!

We still have a long way to go in building up our company.  But for us, most importantly, success continues to be defined one household at a time.  Each family that stops using very dangerous and low quality kerosene light is one more family that is more empowered to rise out of poverty, with increased educational opportunities, household savings and potential household income.

Example: Recently we were able to celebrate the first 100% D.light village.  This is a village of 47 households in the very poor Indian state of Orissa.  We are partnering with a micro-finance organization called Beyond Solar, which is offering innovative financing models that make our products even more affordable for extremely low income families.  Households just need to put down a small down payment and then make weekly payments until the lights are paid off.

In this village, households make only about $12/month, with the primary occupation being stone-crushing.  However, every single one was able to purchase one of our lights.  And this village, which was previously lit only by very dim kerosene lanterns, is now alight with modern LED solar lighting.  In just the few weeks since this happened, children are studying longer hours, and on average, households have increased their income by 50%--up to $18/month--because they are now able to supplement their income by making crafts in the evening.

For more about D.light, check out their River Partner page.