Little Sun
- Company typePrivate
- Founded2012
- HeadquartersBerlin, Germany
- Headcount11–50
- GTM typeB2B and B2C
- OfferingHardware or Manufacturing
Little Sun firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- Little Sun
- Legal name
- Little Sun
- Website
- https://littlesun.com
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 2012
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 11–50 employees
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
Little Sun industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Off-Grid Solar Energy Products
- NAICS
- Solar Electric Power Generation (221114), Electric Lighting Equipment Manufacturing (33513)
- SIC
- Electric Lighting & Wiring Equipment (3640)
- akta.pro primary industry
- Renewable Distributed Generation (Rooftop/Onsite Solar, Small Wind, Small Hydro) (EUACALAJ)
Keywords
Where Little Sun is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Berlin
- HQ country
- Germany
- HQ region
- Europe
Markets served
Little Sun business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2B and B2C
- Offering type
- Hardware or Manufacturing
- Cost components
- Supply Chain, Personnel, Operations, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales
Revenue model
- Solar products and services: Little Sun sells solar-powered products including lamps and operates Community Energy Hubs that provide cooling technology and market access services to smallholder farmers. Revenue appears to come from product sales and potentially hub operation fees.
Go-to-market motion1 record
Distribution channels1 record
Marketing channels4 records
Little Sun product offering
Product offeringCore offering
Little Sun is a Berlin-based for-profit social enterprise that designs, manufactures, and distributes portable solar-powered lamps sold globally, and operates Community Energy Hubs in Zambia that provide solar-powered milk cooling and energy services to smallholder dairy farmers and rural communities lacking grid access. The company pairs hardware sales with foundation, corporate, and carbon-credit funded community energy infrastructure projects.
Product overview
Little Sun is a solar energy social enterprise offering a portfolio of products and services centered on solar-powered solutions for underserved communities. The core offering is the Little Sun Community Energy Hubs, which provide smallholder farmers in rural Zambia with solar-powered cooling technology and access to the formal milk market. The portfolio also includes digital real-time operation and impact monitoring systems. Together, these products form an integrated agritech solution that enables farmers to sell milk for collection by national dairy companies while maintaining quality through state-of-the-art cooling and quality analysis.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Products and services
- Little Sun Solar Lamp A portable, solar-powered LED lamp sold globally through e-commerce and retail partners, designed to provide affordable clean lighting to off-grid households and travelers; flagship consumer product that also funds the company's social mission.
- Community Energy Hubs Solar-powered community-scale energy and cooling infrastructure deployed in rural Zambia, serving smallholder dairy farmers and off-grid communities with reliable refrigeration and electricity.
- Solar-Powered Milk Cooling Solar-powered cooling technology that chills milk at collection points for smallholder dairy farmers, reducing post-harvest losses and improving farm incomes in off-grid areas of Zambia.
- Digital Real-Time Operation and Impact Monitoring Digital platform that provides real-time monitoring of the operation, performance, and impact of deployed solar products and Community Energy Hubs, used internally and with foundation/corporate partners for transparency.
Quantifiable outcome
- $194 million in household savings to those living beyond the energy grid
- +2 more outcomes
Companies that use Little Sun
Customer profileNamed customers2 records
Segments2 records
Ideal customer profiles3 records
Little Sun technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed Yes
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Feature3 records
Little Sun partnerships and signals
Strategic signalScale indicators4 records
Recent moves5 records
Little Sun competitors and assessment
Company assessmentEmerging players
- SunCulture: Kenya-based solar irrigation company serving smallholder farmers across East Africa. Comparable in deploying solar-powered productive-use technology targeted at African smallholders in agriculture value chains.
- Sistema.bio: Mexican/Kenyan biodigester and clean-energy company serving smallholder farmers across Africa and Latin America. Comparable in serving rural smallholders with clean-energy productive-use solutions and value-chain integration.
- ColdHubs: Nigeria-based operator of solar-powered cold rooms for smallholder farmers to reduce post-harvest losses. Highly comparable in offering solar-powered cooling as a service to smallholders, mirroring Little Sun's Community Energy Hub concept.
Direct peers
- Zola Electric: Off-grid solar provider offering solar home systems and mini-grids across Sub-Saharan Africa with a focus on productive-use energy. Comparable in shifting from lamps toward higher-tier energy services, similar to Little Sun's hub evolution.
- Sun King (formerly Greenlight Planet): Off-grid solar energy provider offering PAYGO lanterns and home systems across Africa and South Asia. Competes for the same bottom-of-pyramid solar customer with similar hardware-plus-finance distribution.
- M-KOPA: Kenya-based pay-as-you-go off-grid solar provider serving similar East/Southern African smallholder customers with solar home systems and connected appliances. Most direct commercial analog in customer base, geography, and product category.
- d.light: Global pay-as-you-go solar company selling lanterns, home systems, and appliances across Africa and Asia. Directly comparable to Little Sun's legacy solar lamp business and broader off-grid distribution model.
- Fenix International (ENGIE): Uganda-headquartered PAYGO solar company (acquired by ENGIE) serving off-grid African households. Overlaps with Little Sun on customer segment and PAYGO solar distribution in East Africa.
- BBOXX: UK-based off-grid solar company deploying PAYGO solar home systems across Sub-Saharan Africa. Closely aligned on product type, target geography, and asset-financed commercial model.
Regional players
- SolarNow: Uganda-focused solar home system provider serving smallholder farmers and rural households. Comparable product/customer profile though concentrated in Uganda rather than Zambia.
Market position
Strengths4 records
Weaknesses4 records
Competitive moat3 records
Key risks5 records
Key highlights5 records
Customer concentration
Little Sun social profiles
Digital presenceLittle Sun financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
Little Sun leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles2 records
Little Sun funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds1 record
Investors
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Little Sun M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about Little Sun
What does Little Sun do?
Little Sun is a Berlin-based for-profit social enterprise that designs, manufactures, and distributes portable solar-powered lamps sold globally, and operates Community Energy Hubs in Zambia that provide solar-powered milk cooling and energy services to smallholder dairy farmers and rural communities lacking grid access. The company pairs hardware sales with foundation, corporate, and carbon-credit funded community energy infrastructure projects.
Is Little Sun a public or private company?
Little Sun is a private company. It is classified as founder individual operated bootstrapped and is currently operating.
When was Little Sun founded?
Little Sun was founded in 2012. It employs 11 to 50 people.
Where is Little Sun based?
Little Sun is headquartered in Berlin, Germany, in the Europe region.
How does Little Sun make money?
One revenue line is on record: solar products and services.
Who are Little Sun's main competitors?
Emerging players on record are SunCulture, Sistema.bio and ColdHubs. Direct peers are Zola Electric, Sun King (formerly Greenlight Planet), M-KOPA, d.light, Fenix International (ENGIE) and BBOXX. SolarNow is listed as a regional player.
Does Little Sun have an API?
No public API is recorded for Little Sun.
What industry is Little Sun in?
Little Sun's product category is Off-Grid Solar Energy Products. Its primary akta.pro industry code is EUACALAJ, Renewable Distributed Generation (Rooftop/Onsite Solar, Small Wind, Small Hydro). Its NAICS code is 221114 and its SIC code is 3640.