Duron Energy seeks $10 mn to expand market

Intel Capital-backed Duron Energy is in the market to raise $10 million in venture capital funding to roll out its off-the-shelf solar lighting solutions across the country, reports Business Standard. The company launched its products on a pilot basis in Karnataka and Uttar Pradesh and now plans to expand to five more states including Tamil Nadu, Bihar and Orissa, says the report, quoting CEO Ajay Awasthi.

The Bangalore-based company was incubated at California-based incubator Idealab in early 2008 and raised an undisclosed first round of funding from Intel last September. It also lists The Quercus Trust and Solgenix as investors on its website. The fresh round of fundraising that is currently underway will likely be the company’s Series B round.

Duron is the brainchild of John Howard, a California Institute of Technology graduate, and former McKinsey & Co executive Amit Shah. It launched its first product – Duron solar home power system – about two years ago in India and the founders relocated with the company to Bangalore. The off-the-shelf home kit includes a five-watt solar panel, three LED wide-angle lights, a mobile phone charger, an AC grid charger and comes with dual brightness settings. On a full day charge, the system can generate ten hours of dim lighting and three hours of bright lighting. Each unit costs roughly Rs 6,000 per unit. The company claims to have provided lighting solutions to 3,200 villages so far.

Read our previous post on Duron