Pollinate Energy is improving the lives of India’s urban and Nepal’s rural poor by giving them access to sustainable everyday household products and empowering local entrepreneurs. The social enterprise joined Business Call to Action (BCtA) in September 2018 with a pledge to reach an additional 500,000 people amongst India’s and Nepal’s poorest by employing an extra 400 female sales people, called Pollinators, to sell 100,000 sustainable solar lamps, clean cookstoves and water filters by 2020. 

Sixty-five million people living in India’s city slums, and 24 million across rural Nepal, rely on kerosene and open wood-fires for light and cooking, without access to electricity grids or water infrastructure. Many live in self-constructed tarpaulin and mud huts, and earn less than US$1.50 per person per day, without access to financial services.

Pollinate Energy saw both a need and a business niche in this harsh reality, and what began as a trial distributing solar lights in a northern Bangalore makeshift community to replace dangerous, unhealthy and costly kerosene quickly developed into a thriving social business with hubs in five major Indian cities. Crucial to its success are the locally-hired Pollinators, or sales agents, who sell their products.

Pollinate Energy recently merged with US and Nepal based Empower Generation, allowing the organisation to scale more efficiently, yielding greater financial and operational sustainability by joining forces. Together, they have already provided access to sustainable products to over 500,000 people across India and Nepal. The distribution of a total of almost 100,000 sustainable technologies has saved families over AUD 7 million in household energy expenses and displaced 24,546 tonnes of CO2 by replacing kerosene and candles. As part of its BCtA pledge and commitment to gender equality, more than half of the positions created by 2020 will be filled by women.

About Pollinate Energy: Pollinate Energy is a multi-award winning social business headquartered in Bangalore, India. With a global team based in India, Nepal, Australia and North America, it currently operates in six cities across India and two districts in rural Nepal. Pollinate Energy delivers impact by selling its sustainable products that improve the lives of people living in the urban slums and rural communities.