d.light, a global provider of transformational household products and affordable finance for low-income households, has announced the closing of a new securitization facility worth $176 million.
The new financing, provided by the social impact-focused asset management company African Frontier Capital (AFC), will be used to purchase receivables in Kenya, Tanzania, and Uganda. Also, the financing will enable d.light to expand its PayGo consumer finance offering, making solar-powered products accessible to more low-income households and communities without electricity.
With this recent funding, d.light has secured a total of $718 million in securitized financing across five separate facilities since 2020.
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Commenting on the funds secured, the company’s CEO Neejip Tozun said,
“This new facility is another landmark step in d.light’s mission to provide people with affordable energy that is also clean, safe, and sustainable. It lets us expand our reach so that millions of off-grid families across Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda can experience the benefits of solar energy. Facilities like this make possible our pioneering PayGo consumer financing model with which we are able to offer solar home systems and high-efficiency appliances to the people that need them most in a way that is affordable and sustainable.“
Tozun added that with the new facility, d.light now has receivables-based financing in all of its PayGo markets Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, and Nigeria, noting that this achievement allows the company to maintain consistent positive cash flow and eliminates the need for additional external equity fundraising to support its growth.
Also commenting on the funding, Eric De Moudt, AFC’s founder and CEO said,
“This milestone is a testament to how data-driven financial innovation can play an important role in bringing financial inclusion to the world’s most vulnerable communities, helping them to gain access to clean and modern energy and the ensuing social and economic benefits that come about as a result. We are grateful to d.light for its ongoing leadership in the off-grid solar sector and proud to partner with such a visionary company”.
Founded in 2007 by Ned Tozun and Sam Goldman at Standford University, d.light is a front-runner in providing access to clean and affordable energy to millions of people across 70 countries globally. In 2008, the company developed its first product, and since then, it has constantly been expanding its operations and reach across the globe.
In March 2010, d.light hit the milestone of transforming 1 million lives. The company has been working with distribution partners in Kenya, Uganda, and Tanzania since 2010, and has had its operations in Kenya since 2011, in Uganda since 2015, and in Tanzania since 2016.
d.light has a proven track record in the use of securitized finance to support its solar-powered household products in sub-Saharan Africa. It has previously set up four facilities, beginning in 2020 and including two in Kenya and one each in Nigeria and Tanzania. The combined purchasing value of these existing facilities plus the new facility is $718 million.
In 2011, the company introduced a new solar study lamp, and by then, it had transformed 5 million lives with our energy-efficient initiative. The social impact of its products and initiative was recognized by Forbes when its founders were recognized among the World’s Top 30 Social Entrepreneurs in November 2011.
Not only the West but the Middle East has also recognized d.light’s efforts towards creating a sustainable future after it won the Zayed Future Energy Prize, the UAE’s global recognition award in sustainability in 2013.