Little Sun

Little Sun is a social enterprise[1] that produces solar powered LED lamps and chargers that provide clean, affordable light and power to communities without access to electric distribution networks.[2][3]

LittleSun GmbH
Little Sun
FoundedJuly 2012
FounderOlafur Eliasson, Frederik Ottesen
Headquarters
Berlin
,
Germany
ProductsSolar-powered LED lamps
Websitewww.littlesun.com

Little Sun products are distributed in over ten African countries including Zimbabwe, Ethiopia, Senegal, and Ghana. They are also sold in Europe, Canada, Australia, Japan and the United States to consumers who pay a premium that is offset by the social credit that their contribution gains in reducing cost for those purchasers in the recipient developing countries.[4]

It was founded[5] in 2012 by the artist Olafur Eliasson,[6] known for his installations which exploit visual perception of light and light effects, and the engineer Frederik Ottesen.

In April 2014, the company received a USD $5 million investment from Bloomberg Philanthropies.[7]

References
  1. "By engaging with social values, firms establish value- based relationships with customers who—while not benefitting directly from the firm’s social actions—choose to support those values (Barnett 2007, Jones 1995). These investments in turn create positive demand externalities (Ye et al. 2012) that can ultimately translate into premium prices and loyalty to a firm’s products and services, which also constitute symbols of social identity (Fosfuri et al. 2015). Indeed, for customers in industrialized countries, purchasing Little Sun’s lamps associates them with an iconic, visible identity of environmental responsibility and equal opportunity development. In this case, the two logics reinforce one another." Andrea Fosfuri, Marco S. Giarratana, Esther Roca (2016) Social Business Hybrids: Demand Externalities, Competitive Advantage, and Growth Through Diversification. Organization Science 27(5):1275-1289. https://doi.org/10.1287/orsc.2016.1080
  2. Beauloye, Jennifer, (author.) & Desaive, Pierre-Yves, (author.) & Draguet, Michel, (author.) & Stroud, Timothy, (translator.) & Royal Museums of Fine Arts of Belgium (host institution.) (2015). 2050 : a brief history of the future. [Ghent] Snoeck. 234
  3. Higgins, Charlotte (July 12, 2012). "Olafur Eliasson produces cheap solar lamp for developing countries". The Guardian. Retrieved June 16, 2015.
  4. Andrea Fosfuri, Marco S. Giarratana, Esther Roca (2016) Social Business Hybrids: Demand Externalities, Competitive Advantage, and Growth Through Diversification. Organization Science 27(5):1275-1289. https://doi.org/10.1287/orsc.2016.1080
  5. Tackmann, Stig, (editor.) (2016), 17 big bets for a better world, ISBN 978-87-93229-54-9CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) CS1 maint: extra text: authors list (link)
  6. McMahon, Jennifer A (2014). Art and ethics in a material world : Kant's pragmatist legacy. New York Routledge, 175-6.
  7. West, Melanie Grayce (April 21, 2014). "Bloomberg Backs a Solar Lamp". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved June 16, 2015.


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