Shell’s New Energies Business acquires minority stake of D.light and answers a question for many in solar financing world: is there an exit for early stage impact investors?
Shell’s New Energies business acquired a minority stake in d.light, a leading innovator of solar energy products, purchasing out several early-stage investors as they move to new jobs, underscoring the sector’s increasing commercial viability. This latest development comes as d.light moves closer to the ambition of positively impacting 100 million lives with its solar-powered alternatives in over 70 developing nations.
“We are excited to have Shell combine d.light as a shareholder. Shell’s listing of leading important, transformative changes within the energy sector, and their alignment with our mission, makes them an ideal partner for d.light as we begin our next phase of major growth. We’d like to thank our early shareholders that had faith in us from the start. Thanks to their enduring support, they have enabled d.light to enable incredible positive impact in the lives of millions of clients while still achieving powerful financial outcomes. We have great confidence that we’ll continue to accelerate and deepen this impact, as we expand our geographic footprint and product portfolio to delight our customers. The future is really bright for d.light and the off-grid solar sector as a whole”
Ned Tozun, d.light co-founder and CEO
Shell Vice President Energy Solutions Brian Davis said,”We are impressed with d.light’s track record in meeting evolving customer needs for access to electricity across both Africa and Asia. Their experienced team has developed efficient sales and distribution channels in these markets and continues to expand their product range. We look forward to encouraging d.light to realize its expansion ambitions. With this latest investment, Shell takes a step closer to meeting its ambition to provide a reliable electricity supply to 100 million people in the developing world by 2030.”
“We are impressed with d.light’s track record in meeting evolving customer needs for access to electricity across both Africa and Asia. Their experienced team has developed efficient sales and distribution channels in these markets and continues to expand their product range. We look forward to encouraging d.light to realize its expansion ambitions. With this latest investment, Shell takes a step closer to meeting its ambition to provide a reliable electricity supply to 100 million people in the developing world by 2030.”
Brian Davis, Shell Vice President Energy Solutions
And comment from Omidyar, one of the exiting investors
“d.light has achieved remarkable direct impact at scale with nearly 100 new off-grid power ecosystem. D.light has generated both social impact at scale and strong financial performance, demonstrating that social impact and financial returns are not mutually exclusive. With The new investment in Shell, early impact investors including Omidyar Network are able to Successfully exit as they would with any other type of commercial enterprise.”
Isabelle Hau, Investment Partner at Omidyar Network, among d.light’s prominent early shareholders
Exiting Investors:
Energy Access Ventures (EAV) backed by Schneider Electric and Omidyar Network.
EAV was an early investor in d.light, seeking to add value to the company as it worked to provide decentralised and clean energy to areas with little or no access throughout Africa. d.light is a pioneer in the off-grid pay-as-you-go industry with their quality products and innovative business model. As part of this transaction, Shell is acquiring the stakes of several early investors in d.light.
Financing History
A consortium of renewable energy-focused creditors supplied debt financing totaling $18 million. The consortium made up of two responsibility-managed funds, along with SunFunder, Developing World Markets (DWM), Church Pension Group and SIMA.
The financing was utilized to further increase the company’s operations across Africa, which has already introduced solar power to nearly 100 million people without access to reliable electricity since 2007 using pay-as-you-go financing alternatives and generating 171GWh of renewable energy from the procedure.
