The Paradigm Project

What The Paradigm Project does

The Paradigm Project is a US-headquartered social enterprise founded in 2008 that addresses poverty through a hybrid charity-business model, operating as a Ministry Charity Project of WaterStone Support Foundation, Inc., a 501c3 nonprofit in Colorado Springs. The company designs, finances, and distributes efficient Rocket Stove cookstoves (EzyStove wood variant and EzyChar charcoal variant) alongside complementary life-improving products including water filters, solar lanterns, and agricultural crop inputs, targeting base-of-the-pyramid families in developing countries. Operations began in Kenya and have expanded across several African countries with stated interest in Latin America.

The underlying product technology is Rocket Stove combustion design that reduces wood or charcoal consumption by 40-50% and toxic emissions by up to 70%, with each deployed stove estimated to displace 1-2 metric tonnes of CO2 per year over a 3-5 year useful life. Products are distributed through a franchised social business branded as EzyLife, which creates locally managed last-mile supply chains staffed by community entrepreneurs who sell directly to rural households.

Revenue is generated through two primary channels: direct-to-consumer and B2B sales of Gold Standard certified carbon offsets (priced at $15 per metric tonne with tiered offerings for driving, flying, household emissions, and a custom "Deep & Detailed" track), and hardware sales of stoves and complementary products at base-of-pyramid price points (~$25 per stove in Kenya). Capital is sourced from donations processed through WaterStone (which are loaned back to the project for 6 months to 2 years), social investment from impact investors including Calvert Impact Capital and Novastar Ventures, grant funding, and low-interest debt. The organization was awarded B-Corp "Best for the World" in 2014 and reports cumulative impact of 400,000+ tonnes of CO2 offset, $23M+ in fuel cost savings for families, and 1.4 million trees preserved.

Name

The Paradigm Project

Legal name

The Paradigm Project

Website

https://theparadigmproject.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

2008

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

The Paradigm Project is a US-based social enterprise founded in 2008 that designs and distributes efficient Rocket Stove cookstoves, water filters, solar lanterns, and agricultural inputs to base-of-the-pyramid families in developing countries via its EzyLife social franchise, while selling Gold Standard certified carbon offsets to individuals and businesses globally.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Clean Cookstoves and Carbon Offsets

SIC

Household Appliances (3630), Forestry (800)

akta.pro primary industry

Renewable Energy & Clean Tech Access (Off-grid, Energy Poverty Solutions) (BPAGALAE)

akta.pro secondary industries

Renewable Energy & Energy Efficiency Offset Projects (Grid/Off-grid, Cookstoves, Buildings/Industry) (EUABABAN), Carbon Offtake Structuring & Contracting (ERPA, Long-term Offtakes, Price Floors) (EUABADAE)

Keywords

• Efficient cookstoves
• Carbon offset credits
• Social franchise model
• Clean energy products
• Poverty alleviation products

Headquarters

HQ city

Colorado Springs

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Hardware or Manufacturing

Cost components

Supply Chain, Operations, Personnel, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Others

Revenue model

1. Carbon Offset Sales: Sale of verified carbon offsets to individuals and businesses seeking to neutralize their carbon footprint. Offsets are certified under Gold Standard by UN-sanctioned auditors. Revenue funds project scaling and provides returns to investors.
2. Efficient Cookstove Sales: Sale of efficient stoves (~$25 in Kenya) through EzyLife franchise network. Includes stoves, water filters, solar lighting and crop inputs distributed through local entrepreneurs.
3. Donations and Social Investment: Donations processed through WaterStone 501c3 partner, loaned to Paradigm for 6 months to 2 years to fund operations and product procurement. Repaid with interest, creating a revolving fund.
4. Social Investment and Low-Interest Debt: Uses donations, grant funding, social investment and low-interest debt to invest in people and innovative ideas at the base of the economic pyramid.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion3 records

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

The Paradigm Project is a social enterprise that designs, distributes and sells efficient Rocket Stove cookstoves (wood and charcoal variants) and Gold Standard-certified carbon offsets. Stoves and complementary products such as water filters, solar lanterns and crop inputs are delivered to rural families in the developing world through a franchised social business called EzyLife, while carbon offsets are sold online to individuals and businesses to finance continued stove distribution.

Product overview

The Paradigm Project operates as a social enterprise offering a portfolio of life-improving products for the developing world, centered on efficient Rocket Stoves (EzyStove and EzyChar) and carbon offsets. The flagship brand EzyLife serves as a social franchise distributing Rocket Stoves, water filters, solar lanterns, and crop inputs through locally-managed supply chains in Kenya and other developing countries. Carbon offset revenue from stove usage funds project growth and provides returns to investors.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• EzyLife: A social franchise that manages distribution and sales networks to serve rural families with life-giving products like efficient stoves, water filters, crop inputs, solar lighting and other products in several countries around the world.

Products and services

• Rocket Stoves (EzyStove Wood Stove and EzyChar Charcoal Stove) Fuel-efficient cookstoves based on rocket technology sold to rural families in the developing world (~$25 in Kenya). Reduce wood or charcoal use by 40-50% and toxic emissions by up to 70%, and last 3-5 years. Available in wood-burning and charcoal variants.
• Carbon Offsets Verified carbon offset credits generated from the use of efficient cookstoves, certified under the Gold Standard by UN-sanctioned auditors and sold to individuals and companies looking to neutralize their carbon footprint. Priced at $15 per metric tonne of CO2.
• EzyLife Water Filters Water filtration products distributed through the EzyLife franchise network to provide clean drinking water to rural families in developing communities.
• EzyLife Solar Lanterns Solar lighting products distributed through the EzyLife franchise network to provide clean energy for lighting in off-grid rural communities.
• EzyLife Crop Inputs Agricultural inputs distributed through the EzyLife franchise network to support farming productivity in developing communities.

Quantifiable outcome

• Families save more than $23 million in income from reduced fuel use
• +6 more outcomes

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration1 record

Feature1 record

Partnerships

Six partnerships are on record, tiered minor, core and strategic.

• Woodwalk PartnersminorGTM or Marketing Partner · 1 January 2011Various organizations supported the Woodwalk 2011 awareness event: Invisible Children, Nika Water, People of the Second Chance, The Modern Gypsies, Fifty and Fifty, Elle Communications, UCSD, Space 15 Twenty, Little Hurricane, Jedidiah, Bulldog Drummond.
• EzyLifecoreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ Distributor · 1 January 2008Social franchise launched by The Paradigm Project that manages distribution and sales networks to serve rural families with life-giving products like efficient stoves, water filters, solar lanterns, and crop inputs. Brand created in 2012 to scale social business model.
• Gold StandardcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerNon-profit governing body that certifies carbon offset projects. All Paradigm carbon offset projects are developed under Gold Standard certification, ensuring the highest quality offsets with verifiable environmental and social impacts through UN-sanctioned auditing.
• UN-Sanctioned AuditorscoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerIndependent third-party auditors who verify carbon offset projects, quantify emissions reductions, and certify that work has reduced specific tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions. Enter offset serial numbers into official registry accounts.
• Food for the Hungry KenyacoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerLocal partner organization in Kenya that organizes stove training, promotes efficient cookstoves through field staff activities, and helps free women from hardship through access to improved cooking technologies. Partnered on stories of beneficiaries like Qaqe Ali.
• Global Alliance for Clean Cookstoves (GACC)strategicStrategic or Co-development PartnerInternational partnership working to create a global market for clean and efficient cookstoves and fuels. Rodney Rascona worked with GACC on a film project covering cookstove issues across multiple countries including Peru, Kenya, and India.

Scale indicators11 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• BURN Manufacturing: Kenya-based clean cookstove manufacturer and distributor that sells efficient biomass stoves through last-mile distribution and earns carbon credit revenue, directly overlapping Paradigm's core product, geography and offset business model.
• Envirofit International: Designs, manufactures and distributes high-efficiency cookstoves across Africa, Asia and Latin America, monetizing carbon credits through the voluntary market — a near-direct comparable to Paradigm's stove-plus-offset model.
• EcoZoom: Sells portable clean cookstoves to BoP households globally and participates in carbon offset projects, competing for the same household customers and corporate offset buyers as The Paradigm Project.
• Sistema.bio: Mexican-origin social enterprise distributing biogas digesters and improved cookstoves to smallholder farmers across Latin America, Africa and Asia, monetizing carbon offsets and clean cooking impact — directly comparable product, customer, and revenue model.
• Greenway Grameen Infra: India-based clean cookstove company selling smart biomass and gas stoves to BoP consumers and earning carbon credits through verified offset projects — comparable product, customer base, and offset-driven revenue model.

Emerging players

• d.light: Pays-as-you-go solar lighting and small appliances for off-grid households, distributed through last-mile networks in Africa and Asia — comparable BoP distribution model and complementary clean-energy product set to EzyLife.
• Greenlight Planet (Sun King): Manufactures and distributes affordable solar lanterns, home systems and small appliances via PAYG and last-mile distribution in emerging markets — overlapping with EzyLife's solar lantern SKU and BoP distribution approach.
• Impact Carbon: Implements and finances clean cookstove, water and sanitation projects in developing countries and monetizes the resulting Gold Standard and Verra carbon credits — comparable carbon-project origination and cookstove focus.

Broad incumbents

• South Pole Group: Large carbon advisory and project developer that originates cookstove, cookstove-replacement and household energy offset projects globally and sells to corporate buyers — a much larger but adjacent participant in the same voluntary carbon and clean cooking markets.

Others

• myclimate: Swiss non-profit that develops and sells high-quality carbon offset projects to individuals and corporates, including cookstove and energy access projects — an adjacent, thematically related carbon offset provider competing for the same end-buyers of offsets.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/paradigmproject

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles3 records

Subsidiaries1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds1 record

Investors2 records

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about The Paradigm Project