Equity Investment

The lack of sufficient electrification is an opportunity to bring power and social change to under served markets. Energy users are subject to world market price fluctuations, pollution, high costs, and a poverty premium from lack of access to competing technologies. Utilities suffer from high transmission and distribution costs making traditional power plants and grid penetration to new areas unprofitable. Governmental efforts at rural electrification are difficult to achieve due to dispersed demand and limited in-country practical experience. Distributed, clean energy offers the hope of a cost effective solution for all stakeholders.

High demand for power is driven by increasing fuel costs, the burden of transmission and distribution and environmental impacts. Urban users are subject to brown outs and high connection costs. Rural households that are not near grid connections are also subject to high connection costs, the possibility of no grid connection and high fuel costs for both lighting and cooking. Utilities are subject to demand outpacing capacity, theft, line loss due to old equipment, high transmission and distribution costs to get to rural communities, a dispersed customer base and rising fuel costs for generation. Finally, cross border power wielding put countries at risk for random price increases at the whim of their neighbors. Distributed power generation is a fast, effective solution for power users in the emerging market.

dissigno is hosting a worldwide business plan competition in 2012. The best plan, as judged by a panel of solar PV experts, business people, investors and frontier markets entrepreneurs will be awarded cash equity investment, in-kind services and advisory support from dissigno and key dissigno partners. The award for the next best plan will be advisory support and in-kind services.