According to reports, Renewable Energy firm Husk Power Systems is raising $5-10Mn Series A funding from existing and new investors, according to Startupcentral.
Existing investors Acumen Fund, Bamboo Finance (Oasis Capital) and LGT Venture Philanthropy are expected to participate in this round.
Husk Power Systems was founded in 2008 by Ratnesh Yadav, Gyanesh Pandey, Manoj Sinha and Charles Ransler. The company provides power to off-grid consumers in rural India, chiefly in the state of Bihar, by setting up 35-100 kilowatt power plants. The plants generate power by burning rice husk, a waste product of rice milling.
It set up the first plant in Tamkuha village in Bihar’s West Champaran district and has since installed 85 plants. Out of those, 80 are installed within Bihar, two in Nepal and three in Uttar Pradesh. The company needs additional funds at this stage to get to its stated target of over 2,000 plants by 2014.
The $5Mn Series A round currently under negotiation will be the first of several rounds of funding that HPS will need to get to its 2014 target. The initial seed capital for the company came from prize money worth $100,000 won at various global business plan contests.
In June 2009, the company won the DFJ-Cisco Global Business Plan Competition, which came with seed funding worth $250,000. Subsequently, it raised a $1.25 million, pre-Series A round from Acumen, IFC, Oasis and LGT.
Part of the funds will also be used to finance the company’s Husk Power University, a training institute in rural Bihar for activities such as engine repair and maintenance and facilities management. The institute is aimed at helping the company to meet its skilled manpower needs.
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