Sierra Leone is employing solar power solutions where traditional infrastructure fails. Families are utilizing solar lanterns for nighttime activities, while the continent collectively builds a solar-first, mobile-ready future. With 600 million people lacking reliable electricity in Africa, d.light has emerged as a significant player. Founded in a Stanford course, d.light created a durable solar lamp for rural Myanmar. Its cofounders expanded globally, developing sustainable solutions for communities dependent on off-grid energy sources, ultimately evolving into a large-scale operation within seventeen years.
d.light began in a Stanford classroom—the now-legendary "Design for Extreme Affordability" course at the d.school, Stanford's design program. Its first product? A solar lamp created for rural Myanmar, durable enough to survive being trampled by a cow.
On a continent where 600 million people—roughly half its population—have no or unreliable access to electricity, there's no choice. And no company has scaled that future like d.light.
Africa isn't waiting for the grid. It's building its own future—solar-first, mobile-ready, and designed for the realities of life off the map.
Ned Tozun, then newly married and fresh out of Stanford, moved to Shenzhen to work directly with Chinese manufacturers. His cofounder, Sam Goldman, relocated to India to launch sales. Together, they were building a venture-backed rocket ship for impact.
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