Greenlight Planet gets USD 5 mln funding from OPIC

Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC), the development finance institution of the US government, led a USD 5 million financing in Greenlight Planet, which distributes solar energy products for off-grid homes in emerging markets.
"This is the third round of funding for Greenlight Planet. Previously, they received their seed funding from Prabhat Sinha, a co-founder of ZS Associates, followed by a Series A funding led by Bamboo Finance and a recent Series B funding from Fidelity Investments," a press release said.
"We're building the world's largest rooftop solar consumer base in emerging markets and are delighted to have OPIC's expertise on-board. This financing enables us to massively expand distribution globally and commercialise a much demanded pay-as-you-go solution by our consumers," says Anish Thakkar, the company's CEO and Co-Founder.

Since its inception in 2009, Greenlight Planet has sold over 4.5 million solar lighting and phone charging devices. Now the company is targeting an aggressive penetration of 30 per cent of off-grid households by 2020.