Updated May 20, 2020
SunCulture AgroSolar Irrigation Kit
http://sunculture.com/
Chikabadwa James
The SunCulture AgroSolar Irrigation Kit combines cost-effective solar pumping technology with a high-efficiency drip irrigation system to make it cheaper and easier for farmers to grow. The kit pulls water from any water source (lake, river, stream, well, borehole, water harvester, etc.) using solar power. The solar panels provide the pump’s electricity directly without the need for expensive b...
SEE ALLStage 5: Scaling
SunCulture was founded in 2013 in Kenya and has since turned into a professional company supplying thousands of farmers with the tools, knowledge and financing to improve farming productivity. Due to the high demand for the company’s offering SunCulture has expanded within the region. SunCulture’s products and services are developed in close conjunction with its customers ensuring they are tailored to fit their needs while being affordable.
We measure progress in the uptake and repeat purchase of our products. The uptake tells us about the relevance of the product in the market and repeat purchases tell us about customer satisfaction. We consciously choose to be a for profit business model because we believe that products should only be in the market if they fill a need and people can afford them without the products being subsidized. All our products and services currently in the market go through the same methodological process. If we have an idea for a new product and/or service we first test the idea in a pilot. We want to make every mistake possible in a small controlled area before bringing a product into the market. This has allowed us to keep our cost of after-sales support under 2% of revenues. After having established the relevance of a product or service we bring it into the market and scale it. That being said we make sure we continuously ensure the product's relevance and cross check its validity for our customers. We have seen other companies that stick to their product and are not flexible enough to change. I.e. energy efficient cookstoves being used as stools.
We measure progress in the uptake and repeat purchase of our products. The uptake tells us about the relevance of the product in the market and repeat purchases tell us about customer satisfaction. We consciously choose to be a for profit business model because we believe that products should only be in the market if they fill a need and people can afford them without the products being subsidized. All our products and services currently in the market go through the same methodological process. If we have an idea for a new product and/or service we first test the idea in a pilot. We want to make every mistake possible in a small controlled area before bringing a product into the market. This has allowed us to keep our cost of after-sales support under 2% of revenues. After having established the relevance of a product or service we bring it into the market and scale it. That being said we make sure we continuously ensure the product's relevance and cross check its validity for our customers. We have seen other companies that stick to their product and are not flexible enough to change. I.e. energy efficient cookstoves being used as stools.
Registered in Kenyain Kenya
Focus Areas:
Agriculture, Energy and Solar
Implemented In:
Somalia, Ethiopia, Kenya and 4 MoreSEE ALL
7
Countries Implemented In
Verified Funding
?
Competitive Advantage
While there is no direct competition to our unique business model, a number of companies offer components of our technology; however none take the full value chain approach. Examples include: Amiran Kenya - leader in greenhouses and drip irrigation, and very established in the market and has customer financing mechanisms with banking partners, but no solar water pumping solution; Agro Irrigation and Elgon Kenya Limited are well known, but expensive and don’t have a solar water pumping solution; Davis & Shirtliff and Solar World are known for water pumping/solar products respectively, but don’t have an agriculture solution. This lack of integration drives up cost as buyers have to aggregate products from several companies with no overall technical support. Because we work directly with manufactures to ensure products are made to our specifications, the company is able to source high quality, low price components, ensuring affordability and maintaining a price advantage over competitors. We were the first company to commercialize solar-powered irrigation in Africa and outside of two conglomerates in India that don't focus on solar-powered irrigation, we are the only company in the world providing a turnkey solar irrigation solution comprising of industry leading technology and value added services and with our Pay-As-You-Grow program, SunCulture is the only company in Africa offering a bundled smallholder irrigation financial product.
Planned Goals and Milestones
SunCulture's 2017 goal is to make its products and services exportable, i.e. easy to plug and play in other countries. The challenge in doing so is that all African countries have different market conditions which identifying and including in our expansion strategy is essential for the functioning of SunCulture’s business model. As a result we have decided to increase our country learnings through a strategic partners based in the different countries. Through our partners we can collect country specific data and assess market potential and challenges with minimal risk. The reason for expanding into different market is to increase the impact that SunCulture already accomplished through its solutions: like saving billion liters of water, save thousands of liters of diesel fuel, generate hundreds of MW hours of renewable energy, reduce thousands of kilograms of carbon dioxide emissions, grow tones of fresh fruits and vegetables, realize millions of dollars of savings and increased yields.
Milestone
Sep 2017
Recognition ReceivedVERIFIED
Featured Solution
May 2017
Feb 2016
Funds RaisedVERIFIED
$2,000,000
ORGANIZATIONSU.S. Agency for International Development, Duke Energy, Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency and 2 more SEE ALLU.S. Agency for International Development, Duke Energy, Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency, BMZ (Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development) and OPIC (Overseas Private Investment Corporation) SEE LESS
as part of
Powering Agriculture: An Energy Grand Challenge for DevelopmentPowering Agriculture: An Energy Grand Challenge for Development
Date Unknown
Date Unknown
New Country Implemented In
Somalia
Date Unknown
