San Francisco-headquartered solar lighting & power products maker d.light has raised $11 million (Rs 68 crore) in a Series C round of funding, the company said in a release.
The new round of funding saw participation from all its investors, including Draper Fisher Jurvetson (DFJ), Omidyar Network, Nexus Venture Partners, Gray Ghost Ventures, Acumen Fund and Garage Technology Ventures.
With the closing of Series C, d.light has raised a total of $40 million to date.
The fresh money will enable the company to continue to accelerate its product technology roadmap, expand its distribution in developing markets, broaden its services, and aggressively pursue new opportunities.
“We are delighted to receive such support from our existing top-tier investors to accelerate our growing momentum. It is a strong vote of confidence in our technology, our people and the d.light model that has had such a profound impact on the lives of our customers,” said d.light chairman and CEO Donn Tice.
Founded in 2007, d.light serves more than 2 billion people globally. The firm has over a dozen field offices and four distribution hubs in Africa, China, South Asia and the United State. Its India operations are headquartered in Delhi. The company’s product range has grown to include the affordable S2, the rugged portable S20, the ultra-bright S300 with mobile phone charging capabilities and the D20 solar home system. Over the past year, d.light has sold 6 million solar light and power products.
Mohanjit Jolly from DFJ and Matt Bannick, MD of Omidyar Network have joined the d.light board of directors as part of the new funding round.
"We are seeing an enormous growth opportunity to provide clean, affordable solar light and power products to the relatively untapped markets of the developing world, and to make a positive impact on the lives of so many underserved consumers. d.light has built an extraordinary distribution system in the developing world with its innovative technology and products," said Mohanjit Jolly, DFJ managing director.
In June 2010, d.light raised $5.5 million in a Series B round from Omidyar Network and others. In November 2008, it raised a $5.5 million Series A round which was led by Nexus. Prior to that in Jan 2006, the firm raised an undisclosed amount in seed funding from a group of investors.
(Edited by Joby Puthuparampil Johnson)
