Phoenix Solar

SOLAR LAMP; NIGERIA

PROVEN INTERVENTION TO BE DISTRIBUTED

Solar lamps with built-in phone charging capabilities. 

Learn more about the Solar Lamp Challenge and how these lamps create enormous benefits for developing world families.

 

DISTRIBUTION MODEL INNOVATION

Phoenix Solar will distribute affordable solar lamps that provide lighting and mobile phone charging to rural households in five off-grid villages outside of Ibadan South Weest Nigeria. The organization will work closely with women's savings and loans groups and youth corps members who conduct their mandatory national youth service program in remote off-grid communities. 

Youth corps members participating in the National Youth Service Program will be recruited for this last mile distribution strategy to identify women's savings collectives popularly called Esusu. In Nigeria, college graduates are expected to work for one year in various parts of the country to help bridge the skills gap particularly in remote locations that have lost manpower due to rural urban migration. They will be trained on the distribution model, marketing to undeserved communities, and communicating behavioral change to potential customers.

Orders will be communicated via text messages or phone calls to Phoenix Solar's operational center in Ibadan. Orders received will be dispatched via buses that ply the routes leading to the pilot villages bi-weekly. Phoenix Solar will form an arrangement with the local bus union to negotiate standard charges for delivering the solar lamps at different locations. Solar lamps will be sold in bulk to the Esusu groups with an option for a bulk discount. They will also be sold directly to group members with an installment payment option with payments guaranteed by the group. 

PILOT AND SCALING GOALS

• Sell 500 solar lamps in 6 months
• Distribute lamps in 5 locations in 6 months 
• Reach 1,500 individuals during the pilot phase 

FOUNDING TEAM

Adedotun Eyinade - Director

Sola Fagorusi - Strategy Officer

Bright Renewables

SOLAR LAMP CHALLENGE; ZIMBABWE

PROVEN INTERVENTION TO BE DISTRIBUTED

Solar lamps and solar energy products. 

Learn more about the Solar Lamp Challenge and how these lamps create enormous benefits for developing world families.

DISTRIBUTION MODEL INNOVATION

Bright Renewables (BR) will enter the market by distributing high-quality, pico-solar products from a Lighting Africa approved supplier, d.light design to households and small businesses direct sales through a direct sales model. Informed by preliminary market research, the priority of the pilot is to invest in building the brand, trust, and perception of BR's name within communities. 

BR's target customer segment is women. Women make the financial decisions for household needs. 10 sales agents will be trained during the pilot; the sales agent distribution model shortens channel length in a price-sensitive market, educates consumers about the products, and allows consumers an opportunity to interface directly with a person who can answer their questions and note their concerns. BR will recruit youth through church networks which have a strong and respected status in communities and play a key role in organizing community resources to support members' business and opportunities for youth. A two-day training for sales agents will focus on: expectations and core business values, product technical details, responses to customer concerns, sales pitching, sales ethics, leadership, financial literacy, and record-keeping. 

PILOT AND SCALING GOALS

• Distribute 400 products by the end of the pilot phase
• Reach 10,000 households by the end of year 1 
• reach 30,000 households by the end of year 2

FOUNDING TEAM

Allison Lee - Co-Founder

Tinotenda Ganga - Co-Founder

Kouzin Dlo

CUSTOM CHALLENGE; HAITI

PROVEN INTERVENTION TO BE DISTRIBUTED

Affordable water purification technology with chlorine. 

Learn more about the Custom Challenge and why we only fund ideas that focus on distributing proven poverty interventions.

DISTRIBUTION MODEL INNOVATION

Kouzin Dlo is a social enterprise combating the spread of cholera by increasing access to affordable water purification technology in Haiti. The organization is building a network of clean water entrepreneurs across the country to provide clean water for Haitians by Haitians. 

Kouzin Dlo entrepreneurs are trained in household water treatment, clean water and hygiene education, and marketing techniques. First, the entrepreneurs identify households in their communities to recruit as customers. They conduct door-to-door outreach to introduce potential customers to the benefits of chlorination, each them how to treat their own water supply, and sell chlorine. In addition, entrepreneurs will teach families about safe water storage and provide 5-gallon buckets with lids and taps for purchase. Entrepreneurs will return to families every two weeks to provide bottles of chlorine and answer any questions. Kouzin Dlo entrepreneurs can ear additional income by recruiting new entrepreneurs as the program grows and demand increases. The referring individual receives a percentage of the revenue of the chlorine purchased by the new agent from Kouzin Dlo. 

PILOT AND SCALING GOALS

• Establish two hubs with 15-20 agents each during the pilot phase
• Expand to 6 communities during the pilot phase 
• Reach 500 households within the pilot phase 
• Build a nationwide network of 110 hubs within 3-5 years 

FOUNDING TEAM

Jessica Laporte - Founder and Director

 

Qorax

SOLAR LAMP CHALLENGE; SOMALIA

PROVEN INTERVENTION TO BE DISTRIBUTED

Solar lamps. 

Learn more about the Solar Lamp Challenge and how these lamps create enormous benefits for developing world families.

DISTRIBUTION MODEL INNOVATION

Qorax  (“ko-rah") enters the Somaliland energy sector with a partnership-based model emphasizing education and a local brand as the basis for establishing trust, rapid adoption and long-term stewardship for domestic solar lighting products. Qorax will address both the distribution and capacity building challenges by functioning as a holding company, investing in and providing technical support to locally branded subsidiaries in East Africa, first in Somaliland. 

By distributing solar lanterns direct to consumers using a local sales team that is already familiar with the primary market data, Qorax's local commercial entity called EnerSom will help address the critical energy needs of Somaliland's population. EnerSom will handle inventory control, trasportation, customer service, and order processing through cash and mobile payment services. A university partner has agreed to provide a secure room for initial inventory and an office space for the team. 

EnerSom will build and manage a network of company-owned outlets, with the future potential to establish small, company-owned kiosks in existing retail outlets in urban centers and establish regional small offices to serve additional rural communities. Working from the central store in Hargeisa, the sales team will visit sub-communities locally, including the livestock market, and identify key community influencers - clan leaders, business people, and political leaders - to demonstrate the solar lighting products and communicate the value and benefits. 

PILOT AND SCALING GOALS

• The Hargeisa retail outlet will sell 150 GLP Sun King Eco lanterns and 150 GLP Sun King PRo 2 lanterns during the pilot phase
• Sell 2,625 Sun King Eco lanters and 2,625 GLP Sun King Pro 2 lanterns by the end of year 1 
• EnerSom will open additional stores in Burco, Berbera, and Booroma to sell 25,000 lanterns by the end of year 2

 

FOUNDING TEAM

Nigel A. Carr - Co-Chief Executive Officer, Qorax

Christian Nicolas Desrosiers - Co-Chief Executive Officer, Qorax 

Abdishakur Mohamoud - Chief Operations Officer, Qorax and Chief Executive Officer, EnerSom

Eric Verploegen - Chief Technology Officer, Qorax 

1Room

FLIPPED CLASSROOM CHALLENGE; KENYA

PROVEN INTERVENTION TO BE DISTRIBUTED

A self-directed, digital learning program. 

Learn more about the Flipped Classroom Challenge and why new education models, like flipping the classroom or deskilling a class curriculum, offer a solution to the vast teacher shortages in the developing world.

DISTRIBUTION MODEL INNOVATION

1Room will operate modular learning pods where students pursue individual study plans using tablet PCs and other media, under the guidance of a pod leader. 1Room's pods will be albe to operate in rural and remote environments with limited infrastructur and at half the cost of regular high schools. 

1Room's approach is guided by departures from traditional education: 1. students will study at a content level and pace that is right for them; 2. student activities and responses to questions will be recorded digitally and inform educational decision-making at an individual and institutional level through cutting-edge data analytics; 3. staff decisions on scheduling access to study resources, scheduling one-on-one time, and assigning study content will be supported by data-rich models and optimization methods accessible with a few clicks on a smart phone; 4. staff compensation will be linked to objective measures of effort and effectiveness. 

We will curate our content library and eventually develop original content in close partnership with two research labs in India which are pioneering table and phone-based education for students in developing countries. Pod Leaders will help students set goals, form study plans, offer remedial teaching when students hit difficulties, and deliver certain content not covered sufficiently by othe rresources. Geographically proximate clusters of 8-12 pods or classrooms with students using our tech enabled education at various levels, will be supervised by a cluster manager. 

 

PILOT AND SCALING GOALS

• Reach 400 students during pilot phase 
• Scale to more than 450 students after year 1 
• Reach 50,000 students by year 4 

FOUNDING TEAM

Michael Beeler - Founder and Director

Julius Tapper - Strategy and Business Design 

Sadia Rafiquddin - Resource Development 

ALTech

SOLAR LAMP CHALLENGE; DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF CONGO

PROVEN INTERVENTION TO BE DISTRIBUTED

Solar lamps and other clean energy solutions. 

Learn more about the Solar Lamp Challenge and how these lamps create enormous benefits for developing world families.

DISTRIBUTION MODEL INNOVATION

About 90% of the population of the DRC does not have access to electricity. It is estimated that the country hosts more than 11 million off-grid households and 2 million under-electrified households, encompassing about 70 million people. The less than 15 percent grid-connected population experiences over 17 power blackouts per month. 

ALTech has designed and developed a community-based pay-as-you-go business model for the distribution of modern energy solutions that provide the Base of the Pyramid (BoP) energy poor with clean, safe, affordable energy for lighting, phone charging, and power, leading to steady increases in household incomes and tangible improvements in health, education, and environmental outcomes. 

ALTech will distribute d.light $100, a multi-function solar lamp. The venture will recruit sales agents and area sales managers as well as solar community ambassadors, offer trainings, pay commissions to sales agents, and offer after-sales services. The venture uses an innovative distribution model that consists of on-lending clean energy solutions to primary and secondary school teachers, health workers, health centers, and hospitals. The model also involves reaching out to pregnant women, nursing mothers, and students’ parents.

 

PILOT AND SCALING GOALS

• Operate in four provinces of the DRC 

• Distribute more than 50,000 clean energy solutions prior to pilot phase 

• Reach 5 million households within 5 years 

 

FOUNDING TEAM

Malango Washikala - Co-Director and Co-Founder, Business Development, Finance, and People

Iongwa Mashango - Co-Director and Co-Founder, Logistics and Operations

 

Novotera

COOK STOVE CHALLENGE; VIETNAM

PROVEN INTERVENTION TO BE DISTRIBUTED

Rua clean cook stoves. 

Learn more about the Cook Stove Challenge and how clean cook stoves reduce health and safety risks, lower fuel expenses, and help reduce poverty.  

 

DISTRIBUTION MODEL INNOVATION

The popular Rua Cook Stove will be promoted through the Novotera sales force and distribution network. To maximize distribution and to meet different budgets, customers will have the option of different stove grades (high grade stove, low grade stove, refurbishment of existing stove) and different payment plans at fair market prices. Novotera will utilize the Global Alliance for Clean Cookstove's verified selling startegy: use the stove for a few weeks and then return it or purchase it if satisfied. Customers will also have the option to purchase a stove on credit. 

Distribution will rely on door-to-door sale-by-motorcycle which as previously proven effective as a sales system in Northern Vietnam. Group sales will take place in markets and in stores. Network partners will reach out to informal dealers in villages and stores. The Rua Stove will be promoted through visually rich flyers and stove demonstrations in outdoor markets where salted popcorn (unfamiliar in Vietnam) will be handed out to attract attention. A salesforce will be trained to speak about every aspect of the stove including its ability to produce biochar, to operate on rice husk, and to replace a rice cooker. An emphasis will be put on an after-sale service were customers can call in or have a broken stove repaired. A monitoring system using three key metrics will be put in place to better evaluate progress and projections. 

PILOT AND SCALING GOALS

• Reach 250 households during the pilot phase 
• Sell 920 stoves per month by the end of year 1 
• Have 25,000 low-income households using the Rua Stove by the end of year 2 
• Employ 15 sales people with their own motorcycles by the end of year 2 

FOUNDING TEAM

Dylan Maxwell - Co-Founder 

Olivier Kolmel - Co-Founder