What problem are you trying to solve? Who has this problem?

Market research commissioned by SNV estimates the market for biodigesters in Cambodia is in excess of 1,300,000 rural households and that 48.5% of the market would consider a biodigester. To date the sole biodigester supplier in Cambodia, NBP, has installed 22,500 biodigesters across the country in the last 10 years, representing only 1.7%% of the market potential.

Along with this market potential the benefits that a household experience are extensive, reducing their exposure to kitchen air pollution as well as saving the average family $274 per year. With this market potential and benefits to users the key question is why hasn’t this market been reached? The key issue to date hasn’t been the outputs of the technology, but the lack of a scalable product and commercial distribution model that can tap into the market potential.

Value Proposition

ATEC* is a social enterprise that provides the first mass-produced biodigester globally that can be installed in high groundwater, earthquake and flooded areas – conditions which effects about 89% of the target market in Cambodia and many other developing countries. ATEC* then combines this with a wholesale distribution model that effectively markets the product in a scalable, sustainable manner. Two Provincial Distributors have already signed MOUs with the plan to take this to 13 provinces by 2019.

With the support of market and sales development consultancy Whitten Roy Partnerships (WRP), 113 units have been sold as of October 2016 with further investment in sales teams and retailers deployed with the support from Google and SNV. ATEC* is also developing a food/green waste biodigester, which will expand the market into urban areas and developed countries.

To scale up operations in Cambodia, ATEC* is seeking a Series A investment of US$700,000 in Q1 2017 to expand to 13 provinces, develop key revenue streams and provide working capital within Cambodia. This will also support product diversification and international expansion, with distributors already registering interest in Indonesia and Australia.

• 53,000 people with access to renewable energy and fertilizer

• 2.7 million tons of clean, renewable gas produced

• 34,776 Greenhouse Gas abated with 25,000 tonnes of forest conserved

• USD2.56M in savings/extra income for farming families

• Payback of 11 times the purchase price to the user over the product lifetime

• Kitchen air pollution reduced by 80%, one of the leading causes of premature death in rural areas

Ben Jeffreys, CEO

Advisors

ARUP
Whitten and Roy Partnership
DTW
Puxin
Pritchard Francis
Go Sports 10
Australian Government
Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation
Endev
Kiva
Engineers without Borders Australia
Live and Learn Environmental Education

Investors

Google
SNV