Each of our investments seeks to improve the lives of underserved people around the world through sustainable business models. Select a category below to learn more about our portfolio holdings.






First Light Portfolio

First Light focuses on investing in strong, competitive and sustainable businesses. Below is an overview on some of our investee companies.

Bookbox
Bookbox will provide an animated “book” for every child in India. Dr. Brij Kothari, the co-founder of BookBox, is pioneering the use of Same Language Subtitling (SLS) — a technique in which words on-screen in a television show light up in unison with audio to support reading and language learning. BookBox creates animated stories which use SLS. Since low-income families in India typically do not own devices to play its content currently distributed on DVDs, BookBox is developing a new series of video content that will be distributed on television in multiple languages throughout India.
www.bookbox.com

CO2 IMPACT
CO2 IMPACT, founded by green entrepreneur Boyd Cohen and a former petroleum engineer, Elizabeth Obediente, is a carbon project developer focused on carbon offset programs that have a meaningful impact on local communities in Latin America. CO2 IMPACT’s projects must adhere to the highest quality standards for carbon projects while also: 1.) improving local health and even saving lives; 2.) improve local economies; and 3.) having a positive impact on local ecosystems. CO2 IMPACT is converting brick kilns across Latin America to lower their emissions, selling the carbon credits generated, and sharing the revenue to support the local communities. CO2 IMPACT is a Gold Standard Majority Pledger, proving their commitment to high quality, sustainable carbon offset project.
www.co2impact.com

Cooler, Inc.
Cooler, Inc. provides software that tracks the carbon footprint of individuals and small businesses, and provides energy-efficient recommendations for companies and individuals. Cooler’s mission is to connect every purchase to a solution for energy efficiency. Cooler aims to make it easy for all consumers to know the impact of their actions and take direct action to reduce it. The entrepreneur, Michel Gelobter, developed the idea at Redefining Progress, a sustainable energy institute.
www.climatecooler.com

Drop the Chalk
Drop the Chalk, founded in 2009, is a web-based program that helps teachers track their students' academic performance and correlate progress with school culture and discipline. The fully customizable, easy-to-use interface is currently being beta-tested in seven charter schools in New Orleans. First Light’s investment will help the enterprise begin to tap into the market of 4,900 charter schools. Jen Schnidman, the entrepreneur, is a software developer who used three years’ teaching experience in low-income schools to create Drop the Chalk as a catalyst for education reform.
www.dropthechalk.org

Feelgoodz
Feelgoodz “eco-flops” are natural rubber flip-flops sourced in Thailand and produced in New Orleans. Feelgoodz’ flops are ethically sourced, made of 100% natural rubber, and recyclable/biodegradable. Feelgoodz’ eco-flop seeks to become the first fair-trade certified rubber product. After living in Thailand for two years, Kyle Berner founded Feelgoodz to bring the best of Thailand to the rest of the world.
www.feelgoodz.com

Jack and Jake’s Local and Organic Foods
Jack and Jake’s Local and Organic Foods employs a “local first” mantra that aims to change the way food is produced and distributed. Products in Jack and Jake’s stores will be measured in “food miles”—distance from production to the store itself. John Burns and Greg Hymel come from farming families in Louisiana, and founded Jack and Jake’s in 2009 to support local farmers and to reach out to under served neighborhoods in New Orleans that were left without access to healthy food after Hurricane Katrina. First Light’s investment will help Jack and Jake’s open the doors of their first store.
www.jackandjakes.com

New Avenue Homes
New Avenue Homes finances, entitles, and builds eco-friendly, low-cost homes (‘in-law units,’ $40k building cost) in backyards and other empty spaces to reduce sprawl and infill urban areas. New Avenue is an alternative development model that enables communities to grow internally, as opposed to externally, by building homes on underutilized properties within existing neighborhoods. Kevin Casey started New Avenue while a graduate student at Haas Business School and has worked full-time on the business since graduating in 2009.
www.newavenuehomes.com

Promethean Power
Promethean Power makes solar-powered cold storage units to preserve perishable foods in remote rural areas where there is limited access to electricity. The first application will be to cool milk at remote collection centers throughout India. The unit reduces transportation costs, preserves the quality of milk, and increases small farmers’ income. There is an estimated market of 120,000 cooling units in India, totaling $600mm. Sorin Grama and Sam White developed the idea in 2007 while at MIT, and are now piloting the product in Pune, India.
www.coolectrica.com

RainSaucers
RainSaucers seeks to create an affordable drinking water system through units that catch rain as it falls. The RainSaucers system has a small enough footprint to facilitate deployment anywhere. Since the catchment mechanism is removable, it can be easily cleaned or stored when not in use. A single 200 liter RainSaucers system, emptied periodically during the rainy season, can provide a family with up to 7 months of drinking water. Tom Spargo, the entrepreneur behind RainSaucers, developed the technology and business through West Coast Village Capital.
www.rainsaucers.com

SABRAS
SABRAS was established by Rajesh Shah in 2007 to procure, process, and market salt produced by marginalized Agariyas (salt plan producers) in Gujarat, India. Through SABRAS, the salt producers earn a higher margin by using cleaner operating solar pumps, which in turn improves their standard of living and increases opportunities for their families. The 6,000 producers in Gajarat produce over 3 million tons of salt per year. Over the next five years, Sabras seeks to work with over 200 of these producers. The value of the salt supply chain is more than the salt it contains.


TerViva Bioenergy
TerViva Bioenergy has developed an ultra-low cost, environmentally-responsible feedstock for the production of biodiesel. Terviva owns a proprietary strain of Pongamia, a leafy tree that produces non-edible vegetable oil. Pongamia exhibits robust growth in marginal soil and uses minimal quantities of water and fertilizer. The energy output of a gallon of Pongamia diesel is significantly more than the energy used to produce that gallon. TerViva is currently establishing commercial ranches of its elite trees on semi-arid, non-prime land in the US, Central America, and the Caribbean. Naveen Sikka, the entrepreneur behind TerViva, will use First Light’s investment to plant TerViva’s first ranch.
www.terviva.com

Under the Mango Tree
Under the Mango Tree Under the Mango Tree (UTMT) is an ethical, organic certified company providing market access for rural producers of pure honey and beeswax in India. The farmers increase mango, lychee nut, orange, and apple orchard yields by 2 to 14X due to increased pollenization. The honey has a rich, distinctive flavor as the native bees only pollenate one variety due to their smaller size and lower production capacity, and the honey commands a premium price.
www.utmt.in

V-Shesh
V-shesh identifies and trains rural educated job seekers in India and connects them to careers in sectors such as microfinance. V-shesh also identifies and trains individuals to operate as microentrepreneurs by distributing products suitable to their local social environment. P. Rajasekharan and Shashaank Awasthi co-founded V-shesh in 2009. V-Shesh seeks to be a “livelihood exchange,” where qualified low-income youth across India can find a career.
www.v-shesh.com

Windhorse
Windhorse seeks to make safe drinking water available in small rural villages in India for four cents a day. Windhorse is conducting a 6 month pilot in the eastern Indian state of Orissa to test its low-cost model of delivering clean drinking water in rural villages as small as 100 families. It is using an existing network of micro-entrepreneurs who operate small home front shops to sell the water in each village. Paul Polak, founder of IDE, is partnering with IDE-India to launch the company.

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