Mera Gao Power

Brian Shaad – Co-founder / Director

Solar powered micro grids provide families with nighttime lighting

Market Size

• off-grid distributed energy in India is a $2 billion a year untapped market.

• In Uttar Pradesh, where MGP works, an estimated 20.8 million households, or 104 million people, lack access to energy

Competition

• Kerosene – expensive, dirty, one light point, 3-hours

• Products – upfront cost, quality issues, one light point, 3-6 hours

• Grid – not present or unreliable, expensive

• Other off-grid companies – few players, subsidy dependent, more expensive, reluctant to operate

Business Model Innovation

• Utility, not a productRisk free for customersPre-pay24/7 customer service

• Lighting, not powerMGP provides customers with their priority service

• Low cost and easily replicable

Branch / Block Economics

Investment USD 225,000Villages 250Customer households 6,250Repayment < 3 years

Financing history

• In 2010 co-founders self-funded MGP’s initial pilots with $30,000.

• In 2011 MGP was awarded a $300,000 grant from USAID.

• In 2013 company raised $1 million in equity to finance the company’s growth to 25,000 customer households.

Financing strategy 2013 onwards

• MGP’s business model justifies a debt strategy

• Mid-2013 MGP began approaching the debt markets

• Have reached out to Indian banks, NABARD, CSR funds, Angels, Investor networks, Social funds, IFC etc

2014 Successes

• $30,000 in Crowd Funding through SunFunder

• $30,000 in match funding by TERI• $20,000 grant from the Climate

Group• $100,000 in debt from angel lenders• $80,000 in debt from IntelleGrow

Debt Raising Challenges

• MGP has struggled to access debt because:– Indian law restricts companies from accessing

debt from abroad at commercial rates– Indian lenders like to see non-movable assets

as collateral, 3 years of profitable history, and loan sizes with annual payments less than previous year’s net profit

– Thus, project financing of MGP’s micro grids is difficult

ADB’s Support

• ADB has introduced MGP to a number of potential investors.

• One discussion has progressed well; the potential investor visited in April, conducted due diligence in May, and is presenting MGP to their investment committee in July for a potential $500k investment.

Contact Us

For more information, contact Brian Shaad:

bshaad@meragaopower.com