Presentation at the Energy for All Investor Forum

1. Mera Gao Power
Brian Shaad – Co-founder / Director

4. Solar powered micro grids provide families with nighttime lighting

5. Market Size
• off-grid distributed energy in India is a $2
billion a year untapped market.
• In Uttar Pradesh, where MGP works, an
estimated 20.8 million households, or 104
million people, lack access to energy

6. Competition
• Kerosene – expensive, dirty, one light point, 3-hours
• Products – upfront cost, quality issues, one light
point, 3-6 hours
• Grid – not present or unreliable, expensive
• Other off-grid companies – few players, subsidy
dependent, more expensive, reluctant to operate

7. Business
Model Innovation
• Utility, not a product
Risk free for customers
Pre-pay
24/7 customer service
• Lighting, not power
MGP provides customers with their priority
service
• Low cost and easily replicable

8. Branch / Block
Economics
Investment USD 225,000
Villages 250
Customer households 6,250
Repayment < 3 years

12. Financing history
• In 2010 co-founders self-funded MGP’s
initial pilots with $30,000.
• In 2011 MGP was awarded a $300,000
grant from USAID.
• In 2013 company raised $1 million in
equity to finance the company’s growth to
25,000 customer households.

13. Financing strategy 2013
onwards
• MGP’s business model justifies a debt
strategy
• Mid-2013 MGP began approaching the
debt markets
• Have reached out to Indian banks,
NABARD, CSR funds, Angels, Investor
networks, Social funds, IFC etc

14. 2014 Successes
• $30,000 in Crowd Funding through
SunFunder
• $30,000 in match funding by TERI
• $20,000 grant from the Climate Group
• $100,000 in debt from angel lenders
• $80,000 in debt from IntelleGrow

15. Debt Raising Challenges
• MGP has struggled to access debt because:
– Indian law restricts companies from accessing
debt from abroad at commercial rates
– Indian lenders like to see non-movable assets
as collateral, 3 years of profitable history, and
loan sizes with annual payments less than
previous year’s net profit
– Thus, project financing of MGP’s micro grids is
difficult

16. ADB’s Support
• ADB has introduced MGP to a number of
potential investors.
• One discussion has progressed well; the
potential investor visited in April, conducted
due diligence in May, and is presenting
MGP to their investment committee in July
for a potential $500k investment.

17. Contact Us
For more information, contact Brian Shaad:
bshaad@meragaopower.com