The startup provides Pay-As-You-Go off-grid solar energy solutions for Southeast Asia markets

Singapore-based solar power solutions startup SolarHome has announced it has US$1.2 million in convertible note offering.

The investors who participated include Beenext, Former chairman of Singapore Airlines, Singapore Telecom, and DBS Bank Koh Boon Hwee, X Capital Ventures, and other investors.

SolarHome develops off-grid solar energy home solutions can be rolled out more quickly than traditional electrical grid extensions. Each solar energy generator contains its own panel, batteries, and other electronics required to produce electricity.

This is crucial in emerging markets where governments, faced with hurdles such as insufficient funding, are ill-equipped in rolling out electrical grid extensions fast enough to meet the needs of the population.

SolarHome’s solution works on a Pay-As-You-Go (PAYG) model, which is similar to a mobile phone subscription plan. A user rents the solar energy unit for a small down payment, then purchase energy tokens online or via scratch cards to activate the unit for a defined period of time.

The new round of funds will allow SolarHome to expand its PAYG solar product line and distribution networks in Myanmar.

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The startup currently operates out of seven hubs in Myanmar, employing over 150 field sales representatives and installers. The company has installed systems in over 4,000 households in the Ayeyarwady Delta region in rural Myanmar since its official launch in January 2017.

“We have a large target market of eight million households in Myanmar alone, and we are confident this round of capital will enable us to stay on course to bring affordable renewable energy to over 40,000 households by end 2018,” said Ted Martynov, CEO and Co-founder of SolarHome.

A 2017 United States Agency for International Development (USAID)-funded study of SolarHome’s operations in Myanmar established that every dollar invested in its systems in the field has brought a four times return in terms of measurable environmental and social benefits.

Beyond Myanmmar, SolarHome also plans to expand out of Myanmar to other developing nations such as Cambodia, Indonesia and the Philippines.

SolarHome, which closed a US$625,000 Pre-Series A round in October last year, has raised over US$2.3 million to date.

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Image Credit: SolarHome

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