Lumen Sparse Demo.

Access to electricity remains one of the biggest barriers to economic mobility in Latin America. Lumen was founded in 2020 by two engineers who grew up in off-grid communities in Colombia's Pacific coast. Our hardware-software stack includes a solar panel, a smart battery controller, and an SMS-based payment system that works without a smartphone. Today we operate in 3 countries — Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru — serving more than 12,000 households. Families use Lumen to power lights, fans, and phone chargers, and our data shows a 60 % increase in study hours among children in homes we serve. Our revenue model is a lease-to-own subscription: customers pay weekly or monthly until the system is paid off, at which point ownership transfers to them. Default rates are under 4 % thanks to remote monitoring and community-ambassador networks.

1. 2020

   Founded in Medellín after a field trip to the Pacific coast revealed 2.3M off-grid households in Colombia alone.

2. 2021

   Deployed first 200 systems in Chocó department. Raised $400K pre-seed from Rockefeller Foundation and local angels.

3. 2022

   Launched in Ecuador. Crossed 1,000 active households. Won MIT Climate Grand Challenges regional prize.

4. 2023

   Closed $1.7M seed round. Expanded to Peru. Reached 6,500 households and zero plastic waste in installations.

5. 2024

   Surpassed 12,000 households. Launched Lumen Pay — a mobile wallet for rural energy credits. Default rate down to 3.8 %.

6. 2025

   Opening $3M Series A to scale into Bolivia and Guatemala and add agricultural pumping to product line.