Orora Global,Inc.: Eliminating the crisis of energy poverty in emerging markets
Boston, United StatesChennai, India
Year Founded:
Project Stage:
2014
Organization type:
for profit
Growth
Budget:
$100,000 - $250,000
Website:
Twitter:
Facebook:
- Social enterprise
- Girls' development
- Community development
- Economic development
- Rural development
- Solar Energy
- Renewable energy
- Sustainability
Example: Walk us through a specific example(s) of how this solution makes a difference; include its primary activities.
To power up any community in a rural and semi-urban location, we follow a four step approach:
Inspire: We identify communities with 200+ people that need electricity. We inspire and trains local entrepreneurs (particularly women) in these communities about CLEAN ENERGY! These entrepreneurs earn a 10% commission for every product sold.
Partner: Once we have identified the local entrepreneurs, we partner up with the NGO who bring us the market that is willing to pay for the products.
Sell : We demonstrate all Orora products, collect orders for the whole community and install Orora products. We are in the volumes business and this is our main revenue stream.
Service: We strive to provide the best customers service within 48 hours.
Impact: What is the impact of the work to date? Also describe the projected future impact for the coming years.
The inspirational picture can be picked from www.ororaglobal.com
The impact of our work till date can be measure in terms of people, planet and profit.
People : So far we have reached close to 3500 customers and gained confirmed interest. We currently have about 350 installations We have trained close to 100 women entrepreneurs to sell in the local communities.
Planet : Fuel savings of up to 90% , No CO2 emissions
Profit : Women earn $400+ just lighting up their community
Qualitatively, Lighting, cell phone charging and air circulation powered by the sun
upto 8 hours backup; powered by the sun; Easily portable for use outdoors at night; we have enabled community leaders who have now converted their own community
Spread Strategies: Moving forward, what are the main strategies for scaling impact?
In 5 years, our goal is to light up a million homes. The SMU is currently being installed in schools, churches and hospitals in semi urban areas which will bring us the big bucks to scale in rural communities. As we scale up along the hockey stick, we are confident of impacting a million lives as we grow to be a billion dollar business.
Our exit strategy is to build to business in 5 yrs to a scale that is ready for acquisition by a global industry leader like SunEdison or GE who is trying to grow their market in the rural and semi-urban regions.
Financial Sustainability Plan: What is this solution’s plan to ensure financial sustainability?
We are currently targeting to raise $500K USD by end of 2016. Our biggest challenge right now is the working capital to scale up our production quickly and start supplying to the current customers that are confirmed. Our biggest success in rural markets is because of the excellence in customer service we provide and we want to hire and train more business development managers and service engineers to impact every community in need.
Marketplace: Who else is addressing the problem outlined here? How does the proposed project differ from these approaches?
The renewable industry in India is an extremely over crowded market. Some of the few competitors in the market include SELCO India, Frontier Markets, Barefoot college, D.Light Design, several cheaper product distributors of Chinese manufacturers, alternate fuel options like kersosene, diesel, etc.
There are several players in the solar industry with cheaper alternatives but what is making us win in the market is
One-for-one business model, Doorstop customer service even in the most rural locations
Energy Efficient LED Lighting with 90% power savings and product customization for all
Team
www.ororaglobal.com (Our Team)
Please confirm how you heard about the Unilever Awards:
Yes
Please confirm your role in the initiative (eg Founder/co-Founder) and your organisational title:
CEO and Founder
Which of the 8 UN Global Goals (Sustainable Development Goals) pre-selected for this competition does your solution relate most closely to? [select all that apply]
Affordable and Clean Energy.
Please provide examples of any previous entrepreneurial initiatives you have pioneered.
Beyond your existing team, who else are you working with to achieve your objectives, eg partners, advisors, mentors?
We partner up with local non-profits in India to work on the ground where there is need for electricity.
Our current partners include Indian NGOs (Bharathi Trust, 4M Trust, IHDUA), Netherlands NGO (My name is Kumar) and Bangladesh client (Emergence BioEnergy)