Singapore-based Pay-As-You-Go (PAYGO) solar off-grid solutions provider SolarHome, announced that it has raised $1.2 million in convertible note offering.

According to a press release, SolarHome has raised over $2.3 million in funding to date, having secured its seed capital from FORUM, one of the largest financial technology venture builder in Asia.

The other investors who participated by co-investing include Beenext, X Capital Ventures, and angel investor Koh Boon Hwee.

SolarHome will use the new capital to expand its PAYGO solar product line and distribution networks in Myanmar and also to develop a strong underwriting function to supplement a growing balance sheet.

PAYGO financing is bringing solar products within reach of more consumers and has the potential to revolutionize consumer financing in emerging markets across a much wider spectrum of products.

SolarHome currently operates in Myanmar and has installed systems in over 4,000 households in the Ayeyarwady delta region of rural Myanmar since January 2017.

SolarHome secured its first debt funding from online platform lender Kiva in October 2017, shortly after having closed an oversubscribed pre-Series A equity funding round of $625,000 led by impact venture capital firm Uberis Capital.

According to the World Bank, the global PAYGO solar industry has attracted over $773 million in funding over the last five years. The estimated impact of these investments has been far reaching, with approximately $5.2 billion in economic savings to households as they switch from conventional fuels to off-grid solar devices.

In January 2018, Mercom reported that the off-grid solar solutions have benefited approximately 360 million people across the globe, according to a report by the World Bank Group’s Lighting Global Program, Dalberg Advisors, and the Global Off-Grid Lighting Association (GOGLA).

Off-grid solar has a bright future in poor and under developed parts of the world and the funding towards these emerging markets has also witnessed a significant increase over the years. According to Mercom’s Solar Funding and M&A Reports, the global off-grid solar market saw deals worth $97 million in the year 2015. Approximately $147 million were raised in 2016 and in the year 2017, the sector witnessed an exponential growth, raising a whopping $243 million.

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