Clean water and energy by crowdfunding
This project also has a Changeshop where you can read more about its latest progress.
Go to Changeshop: Digital wallet for water, energy and goods.
Allow entrepreneurs to install clean water and energy solutions supported by crowd-funding; resulting in an income for the entrepreneur.
About You
Background Information
First Name
Marten
Last Name
Susebeek
Twitter URL
https://twitter.com/#!/llvllarten
Facebook URL
The competition is only open to people between 18-34 years-old and resident in UK, Ireland, Sweden, Denmark or the Netherlands. Does this apply to you
Yes.
Country of residence of entrepreneur
The Netherlands
Tell us about your personal background. Why are you passionate about this issue? Making an idea a reality takes innovation, dedication and strong leadership. Do you have the necessary entrepreneurial skills to realize your vision?
Bachelor in mechanical engineering, master business administration. Recently graduated on solar powered lamps that Philips is selling in developing countries. For my graduation I went two months to Ghana where I saw the challenges people with low income are facing to gather clean water and electricity.
Here I also became enthusiastic about the optimistic entrepreneurs, solar power and crowdfunding platforms like Kiva. My vision is to combine sustainable water and energy technologies with crowd-funding business models. This should be provided in a simple understandable manner to entrepreneurs in developing countries.
About Your Organization
Organization Name
Pangea, InfraBox
Organization Website
Organization Country
Netherlands, OV, Enschede
Country where this project is creating social impact
Ghana, XX
Is your organization a
Not registered
Innovation
The Need: What problem are you trying to solve?
Clean water and electricity is difficult to acquire for people living in developing countries. Also it is difficult for entrepreneurs to find funding for smart business models around these technologies.
The Solution: What is your solution? Be specific!
Combine existing structures of sustainable water and energy hardware with existing micro-finance institutions connected to funding platforms like Kiva.org. This should than be provided in a simple to understand "InfraBox" to entrepreneurs living in a developing country. As a result the entrepreneurs community will get affordable clean water and energy, and the entrepreneur earns an income.
The Model: Walk us through a specific example of how your solution makes a difference; include your primary activities
The Pangea Infrabox provides affordable clean water and energy for communities in developing countries. The business model should 1) create awareness at local entrepreneurs, 2) facilitate project financing 3) implement hardware, and 4) reduce the problem of unaffordable water and energy, and provide an income for local entrepreneurs. The next page provides explanation and examples of terms used in this summary (a graphical representation is found in the picture InfraBox.jpg). Pangea InfraBox works as follows:
Step 1, Problem + Awareness: in developing countries many communities lack access to safe drinking water and affordable energy. Also generating an income is difficult for local entrepreneurs. Local entrepreneurs are informed by agents that these problems are solvable with Pangea InfraBox.
Step 2, Down-payment + crowd-funding: In exchange for a down-payment by the local entrepreneur the proposal for community improvement is put on-line at a crowd-funding platform.
Step 3, Hardware delivery + support: When a project is funded by crowd-funding, the water purification- or energy unit is paid. This hardware is delivered to the local entrepreneur who receives instructions how to install, use and and maintain it. Furthermore the local entrepreneur gets access to support via phone, SMS, and/or internet community.
Step 4, Community benefits + income entrepreneur: After installation of the water purification- of energy hardware the communities living conditions should improve. Also the local entrepreneur starts generating an income and is able to pay back the crowd-funding loan with payments of the community.
My input is to start this model on a small scale, convince a hardware provider of the benefits for such a model, and scale up once this model has been proven to be successful.
The Marketplace: Who are your peers and competitors? Identify others also working to address the needs you are and what differentiates you from them. What challenges could these players pose to your success or growth?
Many organizations are trying to provide clean water and energy to people in developing countries.
Organizations that provide these technologies for free are the main threat to the income of entrepreneurs.
Kiva already offers "green loans" (which have a similar vision as my plan) on their site however there is an extremely high demand and low offering of these loans.
Select the stage that best applies to your business
Operating for less than a year
This Entry is about (Issues)
Social Impact
What is the social impact you have had to date and how you measure it?
Contribute to millenium goals, by providing clean drinkable water and reduce need for unsustainable energy sources. Created new insights to entrepreneurs and micro finance institutions in Ghana regarding smart business models and solar energy systems. This can be measured by the number of people that benefit from the water and energy solutions provided.
Sustainability
How does your model address financial, social, and environmental sustainability?
Financial: by providing the local entrepreneur with an income.
Social: by training the entrepreneur and making this person feel important.
Environmental: by reducing need for fuel-based polluting energy solutions. By improving health of communities in developing countries through clean drinking water and (solar-) energy.
Awareness & learning
How do you see social entrepreneurship contributing to the improvement of developing countries?
Social entrepreneurship improves developing countries because it improves the lives of those who needs it the most; in a commercial way while also considering their environment.
What aspects of your stay in Uganda as part of the competition do you think you will find most challenging and rewarding?
I look forward to my stay in Uganda because it will confront me with new challenges in connecting sustainable agricultural technologies with crowd finance mechanisms. Most rewarding would be to involve local parties in my plan and create mutually benefitial situation.
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