Liter of Light

What Liter of Light does

Liter of Light is a nonprofit organization headquartered at The Honeycomb, Double Dragon Plaza Tower 1 in Pasay City, Metro Manila, Philippines, with an additional operational office in Makati. The firm designs and deploys off-grid solar lighting solutions—solar reading lights, mobile charging systems, solar street lights, and hand-made solar lanterns—built primarily from discarded plastic bottles and readily available materials. The organization reports illuminating approximately one million lives per year and works with more than 650 women's cooperatives and thousands of volunteers across more than 30 countries spanning Latin America (Brazil, Colombia, Dominican Republic, Nicaragua, Mexico), Africa (Kenya, Egypt), Asia (India, Nepal, Bangladesh, Pakistan) and Europe (Italy, Switzerland, United Kingdom, Netherlands). Founded in 2011 per firmographic data—though an internal historical timeline anchors "since 2013" as the period of sustained scale—the organization is a UNESCO International Day of Light global ambassador and a Zayed Future Energy Prize and World Habitat Awards recipient.

The core technology relies on accessible solar components and recycled-bottle housing rather than proprietary IP, and the organization's defensible know-how sits in its training curriculum, community workshop playbook, and field-deployment methodology. Distribution is delivered through a skills-transfer model: local cooperatives, youth, and corporate volunteers are taught to manufacture, install, and maintain lights, with downstream beneficiaries being climate-vulnerable, migrant, and internally displaced households without reliable electricity. Revenue mechanics are characteristic of an international nonprofit of this scale: individual donations processed via Stripe, multi-division corporate partnerships (notably with Al-Futtaim Group's Education Foundation, Real Estate, and Automotive arms for Earth Month workshops and the 2024 Guinness World Record activation at Dubai Festival City Mall), sponsored workshops for schools (Deira International School, Universal American School of Dubai) and corporate volunteer programs, grant-style recognition from sustainability platforms, and expat-community-led fundraising (e.g., Filipino diaspora in Dubai). Headcount is reported at 51–100 employees; no commercial product sales, audited financials, or pricing disclosures are publicly available.

Name

Liter of Light

Legal name

Liter of Light

Website

https://literoflight.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

2013

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

51–100 employees

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Off-Grid Solar Lighting

NAICS

Electric Lamp Bulb and Other Lighting Equipment Manufacturing (335139), Electric Lighting Equipment Manufacturing (33513)

SIC

Electric Lighting & Wiring Equipment (3640)

akta.pro primary industry

Specialty & Task/Workstation Lighting (Inspection/task lights, cleanroom/food-grade, portable work lights) (IMAGAIAK)

Keywords

• Solar lighting solutions
• Off-grid energy access
• Community skills training
• Recycled materials manufacturing
• Sustainable development programs

Headquarters

HQ city

Manila

HQ country

Philippines

HQ region

Asia

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Donations and Charitable Contributions: Organization accepts donations through online payment platform (Stripe) to fund solar lighting programs and community empowerment initiatives. No commercial product sales model described.
2. Corporate Partnership Engagements: Engages corporations for volunteer programs and workshop hosting, potentially with associated funding or in-kind support. Partnerships with Al-Futtaim Group for sustainability initiatives.

Go-to-market motion3 records

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels8 records

Core offering

Liter of Light is a nonprofit organization that provides affordable solar lighting solutions to off-grid and energy-poor communities using recycled plastic bottles and other readily available materials. Its core offerings include solar reading lights, mobile charging systems, and solar street lights, supplemented by hand-made solar lanterns featured in large-scale participative art installations. Products are delivered through community-based workshops that train local women's cooperatives and volunteers to manufacture and install the systems themselves rather than receiving finished goods.

Product overview

Liter of Light is a nonprofit organization offering a community empowerment model for Net Zero climate action, integrating technical know-how with hyper-local production and green skills training. The organization provides three core products: solar reading lights, mobile charging systems, and solar street lights—all built using readily available materials including recycled plastic bottles. The product portfolio was expanded with solar lanterns featured in large-scale participative solar art installations. These products are delivered through hands-on workshops engaging local community cooperatives, young people, and corporate volunteers, who learn green skills and create green jobs for climate-vulnerable communities. Since 2013, Liter of Light has illuminated one million lives annually across more than 30 countries, working with over 650 women's cooperatives and thousands of volunteers.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Solar Reading Lights Simple solar-powered reading lights built using readily available materials including recycled plastic bottles, designed for households in communities with limited or no electricity access.
• Mobile Charging Systems Solar-powered mobile charging systems that enable communities to charge phones and small electronic devices without grid electricity.
• Solar Street Lights Community-built solar street lighting solutions providing illumination for public spaces in underserved areas.
• Solar Lanterns (recycled-bottle lanterns) Hand-made solar-powered lanterns crafted from discarded plastic bottles, featured in large-scale participative solar art installations such as the Guinness World Records Largest Solar Power Light Bulb Display.

Quantifiable outcome

• 1 million lives illuminated per year
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers5 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature4 records

Partnerships

Eight partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Al-Futtaim Education FoundationcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnership with Al-Futtaim Education Foundation for Guinness World Records attempt, with students from Deira International School and Universal American School creating 3,000 solar lanterns.
• Al-Futtaim GroupcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerMulti-division partnership including Al-Futtaim Real Estate, Al-Futtaim Automotive, and Al-Futtaim Education Foundation for Earth Month workshops and sustainability initiatives at Dubai Festival City Mall.
• Al-Futtaim Real EstatecoreGTM or Marketing PartnerHosted Guinness World Records attempt and Earth Month workshops at Dubai Festival City Mall properties.
• Al-Futtaim AutomotiveminorGTM or Marketing PartnerParticipated in Earth Month sustainability initiatives and solar art installations.
• Deira International SchoolcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerStudents participated in Guinness World Records attempt creating 3,000 solar lanterns, demonstrating youth climate action.
• Universal American School of DubaicoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerStudents participated in Guinness World Records attempt creating 3,000 solar lanterns, demonstrating youth climate action.
• UNESCOcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerAppointed as global ambassador for UNESCO's International Day of Light, providing international recognition and platform for awareness campaigns.
• Dhai Dubai Light Art FestivalcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerFeatured as Filipino charity lighting up first Dhai Dubai festival, showcasing hand-made lights from discarded plastic bottles.

Scale indicators6 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• d.light: For-profit social enterprise designing and distributing affordable solar lanterns and home systems across Africa and Asia. Comparable product category and customer base, differing primarily in commercial vs. nonprofit funding model.
• Selco Foundation: India-headquartered nonprofit focused on decentralized solar energy solutions for underserved households, with strong livelihood and skills-training components. Comparable end-customer, geographic overlap, and skills-transfer model.
• SolarAid: UK-registered nonprofit tackling energy poverty through solar lights in Africa and Asia, distributing via local entrepreneurs. Highly comparable on mission (lighting off-grid communities), geographic focus, and not-for-profit operating model.
• Greenlight Planet (Sun King): Global off-grid solar company selling pay-as-you-go solar lanterns and home systems to households without grid access. Directly comparable in product (solar lanterns, reading lights) and underserved customer base.
• Barefoot College: India-based nonprofit training rural community members, especially women, as solar engineers who then deploy solar lighting in their villages. Highly comparable skills-transfer and women's-cooperative model.
• Little Sun: Social enterprise founded by Olafur Eliasson producing portable solar lamps for off-grid communities, sold partly at premium and partly distributed at-cost in Africa. Closest analog: similar product, similar mission of energy access, similar storytelling-driven brand.

Broad incumbents

• M-KOPA Solar: Leading pay-as-you-go solar home system provider in East Africa serving off-grid households. Comparable product category and customer base, but operates at much larger commercial scale.
• Zola Electric: Off-grid solar company providing solar home systems and pico-solar products across sub-Saharan Africa. Comparable solar lighting/customer base, larger commercial footprint.
• BBOXX: UK-based off-grid solar company distributing solar home systems across Africa. Comparable target customer and solar lighting product category, with a more commercial/financing-driven model.

Others

• SunFunder (now Climate Fund Managers / solar impact debt funds): Impact investment platform funding off-grid solar companies serving energy-poor households. Adjacent ecosystem participant providing capital to many of Liter of Light's commercial peers, useful for fundraising intelligence.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/literoflight
• YouTubeyoutube.com/@literoflightofficial
• Facebookfacebook.com/aliteroflight
• Instagraminstagram.com/literoflight
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/literoflight

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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 Liter of Light