| www.actifpower.com | [email protected] | +1 52 55 5025 6189 |
“Each dollar invested will bring safety, productivity and improved living standards to one person in slums and rural areas. In less than 3 years, nearly 500,000 will be served.” - Antonio Ernesto Schettino Benítez, General Director
Problem Statement:
Many slums and rural towns in Mexico have either no adequate public lighting or no lighting at all. Numerous studies have linked this to higher crime rates, lower productivity and other safety risks. Installing public lighting is normally too expensive an en-deavor to be self-financed by underserved communities and resources are most of the time scarce or hard to access for local governments.
Theory of Change:
Act/if provides energy-efficient lighting and solar power to im-prove the quality of life for custom-ers at the base of the pyramid.
Headquarters: Mexico City, Mexico
Established: 2006
Impact Areas: Mexico, Central and South America, Southern Europe, USA
Type: For-Profit
Sectors: Clean Tech & Energy
Staff Size: 13
Annual Budget: $600,000
Major Funders: Self-funded, seed capital loan from Mexican government
Act/if Electropower - GSBI™ Class of 2010
PURSUING LIGHTING FOR UNDERSERVED COMMUNITIES THROUGH OPTIMAL ENERGY EFFICIENCY, LOCAL TECHNO-
LOGICAL DEVELOPMENT, AND QUALITY JOB CREATION
Solution:
Act/if provides the lowest cost high quality solar powered LED systems for public lighting in underserved Mexican slums and rural towns. Our locally manufactured preassembled solar LED street lamps have a 50% lower cost and allow a 75% reduction in installation time.
This profile was developed during the 2010 Global Social Benefit Incubator™, the signature program of Santa Clara University’s Center for Science, Technology and Society. Updated 8/26/2010. www.scu.edu/sts/gsbi
Investment Required:$500,000 in working capital debt at the market rate with a 3 year term.
Projected Social Impact:
Projected Earnings:
Growth Plan:
2010: Ship 500 units
2011: Raise $500k working capital; quality managing partner; reach break even
2012: Secure one large deal for 2013 (20k units)
Impact to Date:• 4 indigenous communities in Chiapas with public lighting,
serving 7,000 people• 195 tons of CO2 prevented from being released into the
atmosphere (300 kg/year/lamp)• 7 direct and 30 indirect jobs created, 3 in engineering and
design
Milestones Achieved:
2006: First fund raising accomplished through private partnership (now dis-solved)
2007: Government loan obtained through seed capital program
2008: Proof of concept and first 20 solar lamps sold
2009: First office LED lighting sold to Bayer Chemicals office in Mexico City
2009: First 200 solar lamps purchased for rural community: Nuevo Grijalva, Chiapas.
2010: First export accomplished (Air-port, Seville, Spain)
| www.actifpower.com | [email protected] | +1 52 55 5025 6189 |
“My husband was mugged twice in the alley last year. We were afraid every night when he came home from work. Now it is safer since there is light in the neighborhood.” - Rosa Camacho, Tuxtla Gutierrez, Chiapas, Mexico
PURSUING LIGHTING FOR UNDERSERVED COMMUNITIES THROUGH OPTIMAL ENERGY EFFICIENCY, LOCAL TECHNO-
LOGICAL DEVELOPMENT, AND QUALITY JOB CREATION