'Empowering lives in the developing world through innovative products'

The world is changing. As we became ever more interlinked, there is a growing sense of the need to work together to solve global problems, both amongst different countries and different sectors of our society. The emerging phenomenon of 'social entrepreneurship' and the growth in micro-credit are demonstrating a completely new way of creating long-term and sustainable social change. At the same time, as competition in traditional markets becomes more intense, business is slowly awakening to a whole new market opportunity at the 'base of the pyramid' serving the 4 billion people who live on less than $1,500 per year.

Yet despite all of this, the gap between rich and poor is still growing. According to the United Nations, the richest 20% of the world accounts for 85% of global wealth - in 1960, this figure was only 70%. As we struggle to decide which new car to buy or new house to live in, the majority of people in our world live on less than $4 per day. Billions of people lack even the most basic services, from clean water to electricity. For example, nearly 2 billion people still rely on the dim smoky glow of primitive fuels like kerosene to provide light after dark. Even though US citizens donate over $200 billion each year, only a small fraction of these donations support projects in developing countries. There's no doubt these donations can make a huge difference, but unfortunately charity alone is not enough.

As graduates from Stanford University, we were introduced to power of using technology in the developing world through the inspiring work of the Light Up The World foundation. Once hooked, we felt compelled to continue, forming our own social venture, IGNITE. Our mission at IGNITE is to empower lives in the developing world through innovative products. Our first product will be a solar powered lantern, and our first market will be India. However, IGNITE is more than just light, and more than just products; we are also about moving beyond the drip-feed of charitable donations to engage the power of the private sector. Charity alone is not enough; we believe lighting the entrepreneurial flame of market forces is the best way of IGNITING the fire of social change.