Based in Madagascar

Jiro-Ve

A For-profit with social mission

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Organization Details

Jiro-Ve is an impact venture incorporated in 2014 and operates in Madagascar. Like in many developing countries, most rural families in Madagascar use expensive and dangerous kerosene lamps or candles for lighting because there is no grid connection and they cannot afford to buy solar products.

Jiro-Ve has built a network of 45 urban and rural franchisees that presently serves >12,000 very low-income families with solar-charged energy, at a daily cost that is less than they pay for a candle. The business is already profitable and scaling with 500+ new customers per month.

Support Needs

We’re looking to improve our legal & liability position with:

AccountingCrowdfundingFinanceImpact Investing andInnovation

Impact Story

The daily problem for people earning less than 2$ a day is that they are stuck with dirty kerosene lanterns and/or candles that cause fires and affect people’s health while polluting their environment. They don’t have other options because better solutions are out of their financial means and payment schemes are not available because of their unreliable sources of income. Because of the exceptionally high poverty levels in Madagascar, traditional PAYGO solar companies are not present or have no reach because they require customers with much higher ability to pay or to own a phone to make their payment. To date, Jiro-Ve is the only company that has managed to reach large numbers of customers within this poorest segment in the country - and do so profitably.

Most of the funds currently spent on energy by our target customers are wasted on non-renewable sources. Consumption of fossil fuels keeps people poor (they don’t build up assets). The burning of candles and kerosene also causes harmful indoor air pollution, causing disease and premature death.

Jiro-Ve offers clean renewable energy at a lower cost than people used to pay for their candles or kerosene. Our service offers them superior electrical lighting, at lower cost, by using an innovative business model that revolves around franchisees.

The franchise model has the unique advantage of being the perfect balance between adapting to the local needs of each area whilst offering standardized best practices that allow for scaling the operations very rapidly.

We believe our service has the potential to eliminate the expensive and dangerous kerosene lamps or candles used for lighting, and the inconvenient means currently available to charge mobile phones. With our (very poor) customer segment being unprofitable to traditional PAYGO operators, Jiro-Ve offers clients clean solar energy, at a lower cost.