Our focus

The Foundation has three primary focus areas for project and partner selection:
The Foundation has 3 primary focus areas for project and partner selection:

The Foundation has 3 primary focus areas for project and partner selection:

Lighting Lives

Enabling access to relevant, affordable and sustainable lighting technology for off-grid and partial grid communities to help extend the productive day.

Lighting Entrepreneurs

Better lighting stimulates productivity and entrepreneurship. However, Lighting Lives can only have a long-term impact if communities have the skills to operate and maintain the lighting installation provided. In addition to this technical training, the Signify Foundation helps entrepreneurs develop business skills to enable the development and strengthening of channels of last mile distribution.

Humanitarian Lighting

When a humanitarian crisis strikes, light is critical in delivering emergency assistance. Without adequate illumination, aid workers cannot deliver care or supplies after nightfall. In these situations, light doesn’t just assist relief efforts – it saves lives. By funding lighting technology for humanitarian projects, we aim to help aid workers and engineers to see clearly while increasing safety and security for those who are made even more vulnerable in disaster contexts.

Access to light value chain

To fulfil our mission of enabling sustainable access to light, we first map and identify key actors across the energy/ light access value chain. From technology manufacturers, logistics and distribution agencies, financing partners and training institutions they are all key to enabling market ecosystems where local need for light is met through local supply. We partner with, and support intermediaries across this value chain to foster an ecosystem approach of tackling their barriers to growth and scalability.

Our contribution to the SDG’s

For the international community, there is broad agreement that access to modern energy services is a necessary pre-requisite for alleviating poverty and boosting shared prosperity. Access to energy underpins access to lighting with decentralized solutions being most relevant in the off-grid and partial grid contexts that the Foundation works in. Through our projects and partnerships, we directly contribute to the following SDG’s: