Solar energy products company Greenlight Planet has raised $10 million (around ₹60 crore) funding from private equity firms led by Fidelity Growth Partners India, the country-focused PE arm of Fidelity Worldwide Investment.

US-based Greenlight has reported rapid growth in India and sub-Saharan Africa, selling over 3 million rooftop solar lighting and phone charging devices. The company is also intent on recruiting and skilling over 3,000 micro entrepreneurs, called Sun King Business Associates, in Kenya and Uganda this year.

Founded in 2007, Greenlight focuses on delivering affordable energy to the world’s 1.2 billion off-grid consumers. The company has sold over 3 million of its Sun King solar light and energy devices to off grid homes in 30 countries. Around 1.5 million of these devices were sold in the last 12 months, the company said in a statement.

Currently, Greenlight has 6,000 village direct sales agents located across India, Kenya and Uganda. The new funding is aimed at supporting its distribution expansion efforts in India and Southeast Asia.

The company has plans to build the world’s largest rooftop solar consumer base in emerging markets, according to Anish Thakkar, CEO and co-founder. According to IFC reports, over 800 million people in India and Southeast Asia live off the electric grid, spending $4.5 billion annually on kerosene, batteries and candles for light. In India, Greenlight’s Sun King solar lighting and phone charging devices retail for around ₹650. The company opened its first office in Mumbai in 2009, and expects to reach 100 million off grid households by 2020, it said.

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