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Pollinate Energy
Alexander Schmidt
Pollinate Energy
Story
Hello everybody,
Most of you who know me will know that I am happiest when I am doing something to help other people, which is why I am currently studying my Master of Development Studies at Melbourne University. This summer I will be travelling to India as part of the Pollinate Energy Fellowship Program for a chance to put the knowledge I have gained at university into practice outside of the classroom. I will spend one month supporting a new entrepreneur to start their own business within India’s urban slums, bringing affordable and life-changing products to the hands of people who need them most.
What does Pollinate do?
Pollinate Energy is a not-for-profit social business and was founded in November 2012, when the founding team realised that although there were many simple and low-cost energy solutions available on the shelves, the urban poor did not have access to them. They use an on-the-ground network of ‘Pollinators’, and short-term 5-week payment plans, to make sure that these products do reach these communities.
If you would like to read more about the urban poverty situation in India, you can click here. More importantly, read about Pollinate Energy’s solution, and what I will be helping them achieve, by clicking here.
So what exactly will your money go towards?
I am raising funds to participate in this program, which contribute towards the start-up of a new entrepreneur who can kick-start a clean energy business in more urban poor communities. I will be covering flight costs myself. However, some of your money will help to provide accomodation for those participating in the program, like myself, and towards Pollinates business operations. Currently, Pollinate is trialing new products like water filters to help serve the urban poor in India.
I am undertaking this program because I have a passion for helping people and this is a perfect opportunity for me to gain valuable experience to prepare myself for my future career. If you would like to see some other things I have done over the past few years, please take a look at my blog at:
http://aussiealexabroad.blogspot.com.au/.
Apologies that at this point, donations made for this campaign are not tax deductible.
Thanks for taking the time to read this and if you are able to support me I would be most grateful.
Regards,
Alex
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Pollinate Energy Ltd
On July 31st 2012 India experienced the world’s largest blackout. 600 million people were plunged into darkness. But what wasn’t reported is that every night in India there are 292 million people still in the dark.
Why is it that mobile phones are no longer a luxury in India, but electricity is?
Pollinate Energy is a non-for-profit startup co-founded by 5 Australians, designed to develop the next generation of leaders and social entrepreneurs while bringing renewable energy to people living in poverty. We work on India with a focus on urban slums – homeless families who live in poverty, in tents. There are 20,000 of these people in our base of Bangalore alone.
These families don’t have electricity – so their kids can’t study at night, and they can’t work, store food, or access information.
What these families do have however, en masse, is drive and determination.
Pollinate Energy taps into this entrepreneurial spirit, using locally manufactured solar systems to provide light to families living in poverty. These renewable systems are designed to cost no more than what these families spend on energy at the moment. We train local entrepreneurs – teaching them how to sell, finance, install and maintain systems.
What these local entrepreneurs need is help to set up these businesses. They need capital, training and most importantly, moral support.
Through a student Fellowship program, Pollinate Energy will help to provide this support, while training the next generation of social entrepreneurs
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