In the year 2010, Hughes resigned from Vodafone and started a mobile technology venture firm called Single Point Partners (SPP) with technical experts from the mobile and banking industries. One of these experts, Moore, was among those who joined Hughes alongside Gautam Ivatury (Ivatury) and Chad Larson (Larson).

SPP incubated several projects, including a pilot project in Kenya of providing micro-finance facilities through mobile phones. The project was called Jipange KuSave . Initially, the concept was tested among a section of the population for acceptability, affordability, flexibility, and reliability of repayment. The results were positive. But due to some regulatory constraints, the concept could not be implemented on a commercial basis.

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DEVELOPING A BUSINESS MODEL AROUND AN IDEA

With the support of grants and equity investment provided by the Shell Foundation (UK), DOEN Foundation (NL), and dob equity (NL), SPP endeavored to test the concept of M-KOPA Solar. The funding during the initial and pilot stage when the business model was being formulated was valuable. This gave SPP the flexibility to test the project “Getting innovative flexible money early on is good,…” said Moore, Managing Director, M-KOPA Solar ...

OPERATIONAL FRAMEWORK

After successfully completing the trailing phase, M-KOPA Solar launched its commercial operations in June 2012. Since the commencement of its business, the consumer base of M-KOPA Solar had grown rapidly, reaching 100,000 by the end of September 2014. The business had grown at the rate of 1000 new consumers per week . M-KOPA Solar’s success attracted investors in a big way. While some of the investors took a stake in the company, others invested with a social objective..

ANALYZING AND UNDERSTANDING CONSUMERS FOR A BETTER BUSINESS MODEL

M-KOPAnet, which was the back-end of M-KOPA Solar, processed various data relating to consumers. This helped M-KOPA Solar to further refine its business model. Thanks to M-KOPAnet, M-KOPA Solar was able to categorize the consumers and to design suitable payment plans for them. It was also in a position to analyze the pattern of cash flows into its business and to align the product specifications as per the socio-economic status of the consumers. ..

IMPACTING LIVES

M-KOPA Solar had a significant impact on the social and economic lives of the people “I saw it can save you a lot of money, it’s improved my life, for now I don’t use kerosene anymore – I have my own light. And it’s bright,” said John Kibet, a consumer of M-KOPA Solar . The provision for lighting during night time improved the quality of life of the consumers. Besides, investment in M-KOPA Solar also served as a source of saving money for the future as it reduced the use of kerosene...

WORKING ON 2017 CHALLENGE

In an effort to scale up, M-KOPA Solar which had begun pilot operations in eastern Uganda in mid 2013, started expanding its operations in Uganda and Tanzania. By March 2015, it had connected over 20,000 off grid homes in Uganda to affordable solar power and was working on expanding its distribution nationwide with the target of adding 50,000 more homes by the end of 2015..

EXHIBITS

Exhibit I: Information on M-PESA Services
Exhibit II: M-KOPA Solar Sustainable Business Model
Exhibit III:List of Investors as on August, 2015
Exhibit IV: Product Specifications of M-KOPA Solar
Exhibit V: Payment Plans of M-KOPA Solar
Exhibit VI: Impact of M-KOPA Solar
Exhibit VII: Product Specifications and Payment Options for M-KOPA III Solar