Acumen has launched its new Pioneer Energy investment Initiative: Powering Livelihoods Using Solar (PEII+)
PEII+ is a five year, US$25mn dollar initiative that will invest early-stage capital in companies that provide renewable energy-powered appliances –from mills and irrigation pumps to electric motorbikes and refrigerators – to microentrepreneurs and smallholder farmers in India and East and West Africa.
PEII+ is supported by the IKEA Foundation, Charles and Lynn Schusterman Family Philanthropies, Autodesk Foundation, and Distributed Power Fund, and has been awarded follow-on funding with UK Aid from the UK government via the Transforming Energy Access (TEA) platform. PEII+ is also strategically aligned with the Global Energy Alliance for People and Planet (GEAPP) commitments in India and East and West Africa.
“To tackle poverty and climate change in this decade, we need to reimagine how low-income communities access and use power. Productive use appliance companies have the potential to transform livelihoods, but lack access to investment capital to support their growth. Alongside our partners, we will continue to invest high-risk, early-stage capital in this next generation of innovations at the intersection of energy access, livelihoods, and climate resilience,” said Sarah Bieber, head of energy partnerships at Acumen.
