Chuck Dell and Kunle Odebunmi (COO -Green Energy & Biofuels Limited)
SMEFUNDS’
Green Energy & Biofuels Named Top Sustainable Business
First African Waste-to-Ethanol Company recognized by Mentor Capital
Network
Washington DC—27 July
2014—Small Medium Enterprise Fundamentals’ (SMEFUNDS) Green Energy &
Biofuels won the 2014 WJF Chuck Dell
Award for Sustainable Business. Mentor Capital Network, formally known as
the William James Foundation, selected the enterprise based on social impact
and potential for growth. The award was a competitive process that considered
the business models and results from 558 social enterprises from around the
world. Judges involved in the selection included Laura Lovelace
Managing Partner of Lovelace
Energy Advisors, Dawn Edwards, Senior Managing Director at Mission Markets,
Kalsoom Lakhani, Founder & CEO at Invest2Innovate and Ms. Deb Parsons
“This award is a huge boost to
thousands of people across Africa and partners around the world,” said Kunle Odebunmi, COO of Green Energy
& Biofuels. “We started out as a very small group of people with a big
dream. But it took thousands of people joining us to get to the point we are
today. We accept this award in appreciation of them. ”
For over 2 years, SMEFUND’s Green
Energy & Biofuels has converted wood waste from local sawmills into high
quality ethanol. The company has a unique approach: While cellulosic ethanol is
yet to approach commercial viability in the rest of the world, the company saw
an opportunity for this renewable fuel due to the high price of kerosene in
Nigeria. Turning the renewable ethanol into a cooking fuel allows them to be
commercially successful even on a small scale. To date, the company has sold
over 200,000 of their patented stoves and 2 million liters of ethanol cooking
gel.
“Chuck Dell founded WJF to act on his
passion that business could be a force for good in the world. Mentor Capital
Network stays true to that mission to prepare the new generation to take on the
challenges of building a more sustainable world. This is truly embodied in the
spirit, strategy and results of SMEFUNDS’ Green Energy & Biofuels. We are
thrilled to honor both SMEFUNDS and Chuck Dell today,” stated Ian Fisk,
executive director of the Mentor Capital Network.
SMEFUNDS’ Green Energy & Biofuels is now working with
top investors and financiers to accelerate their waste-to-ethanol cooking fuel
expansion. They are currently raising their Series A equity round and would be
delighted to speak with those interested in helping build Africa’s first
multi-billion dollar renewable fuel company.
About
SMEFUNDS’ Green Energy & Biofuels
SMEFUNDS’ Green Energy & Biofuels is a social enterprise
based in Lagos, Nigeria promoting safer and cleaner biofuel gel with their
patented cookstoves as an alternative to dangerous and harmful fuel. They are
the first partners of UN Sustainable Energy for All High-Impact
Initiative for Sustainable Bioenergy in Africa. Recently, they were
named the best clean energy investment opportunity in West Africa and overall
winner at the West
Africa Forum for Clean Energy Financing Business Plan competition in Accra
and gained support from the Global Alliance for Clean Cookstoves’ Spark
Fund.
About
Mentor Capital Network
Mentor Capital Network is a nonprofit organization that is
strengthening the global social enterprise community, championing triple bottom
line values, and leveraging the success of mentors to forge new successes. It
is a network of people who build, manage, invest in, research and support
for-profit multi-bottom line businesses and invest our skills and expertise to
accelerate the next generation of inventors and innovators passionate about
their world-changing ideas create, launch and scale successful businesses that
make money and make the world better place. Since 2002, it has invested over $3
million of mentor capital to more than 830 for-profit social enterprises creating
thousands of jobs and positively impacting the lives of millions of people.
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