Eight19 will concentrate on development of its printed plastic solar technology and Azuri will focus on expanding the Indigo product family and market reach.
Eight19, which was established in September 2010 to develop research from Cambridge University into a new generation of printed plastic solar modules, has over the last year developed Indigo, a revolutionary pay-as-you-go product range for off-grid customers in emerging markets. Indigo has sparked the world's imagination, including winning the World Business and Development Award at the RIO+20 UN Climate Conference in June and the product is currently deployed in Kenya, Malawi, Zambia, South Sudan, Uganda and South Africa.
Due to the unprecedented growth of Indigo, the Eight19 board has taken the decision to spin-out Indigo into Azuri in order to facilitate its rapid expansion. The entire Indigo activity has transferred to Azuri and Simon Bransfield-Garth will remain CEO of both companies. The new corporate structure allows both companies to focus on their core strengths, forge more specific commercial relationships and to access new sources of finance to support their respective operations.
The two companies will both remain in Cambridge UK and will continue a close working relationship; Azuri providing a route to market for Eight19s printed plastic solar products and Eight19 providing the supply of a new generation of low cost, lightweight and flexible solar technology that is ideally suited to the hardships of off-grid markets. Earlier this year, Eight19 began organic solar trials in Africa and it is envisaged that real-world data will accelerate and facilitate the product development.
Simon Bransfield Garth, CEO of both Eight19 and Azuri said This is tremendous news for both Eight19 and Azuri, their respective customers, suppliers and shareholders. The separation of the businesses reflects the maturing of the Indigo product range, allowing Azuri to develop Indigo in the best possible way to help address the needs of off-grid customers in emerging markets while allowing Eight19 to focus on its core activity of developing printed plastic solar technology. We are very excited about the future for organic electronics with Eight19 and for the continued success of Indigo with Azuri.
