Slashing CO2Plugging Brazil into the sun.
Big Picture
Latin America’s largest economy relies on hydro for two-thirds of its power. Yet, 80% of that capacity is literally evaporating due to climate-fueled droughts, driving price hikes, blackouts, and fossil fuel imports. Despite being sunnier than any part of solar PV-rich Germany, solar makes up only 1% of Brazil’s power mix. Retail consumers struggle with its upfront costs and archaic suppliers remain too analog to drive adoption.
How it Works
Lemon connects retail power consumers with clean energy generators. Remote plants pump clean energy into the grid, generating a supply of credits bought by consumers. SMEs gain savings, a digital customer experience, and access to clean energy without installation or money down. Generators double earnings from retail market access and gain seamless billing, collection and energy management.
Unfair Advantage
By digitizing an analog market, Lemon arbitrages the low cost of distributed clean energy and the high cost of retail power. The asset-light business model drives network effects as more power supply and consumer demand lower overall unit economics and increase margins. Their automated platform enables customers to sign up within minutes without ever speaking to a sales rep and seeing a paper bill again.
20
Percent savings
on energy bills with no money down
RAFAEL VIGNOLI CEO & CO-FOUNDER
Rafa previously founded numerous small- and medium-sized businesses, including chains of health clinics and wellness centers.
ARIEL AMAR CFO & CO-FOUNDER
Ariel was previously a private equity researcher at Itaú BBA, Latin America’s largest corporate investment bank.
LUCIANO PEREIRA CTO & CO-FOUNDER
Luciano was previously CTO at Brazilian fintech startup Ewally. He holds a B.Eng and M.Sc. from Instituto Technológico de Aeronáutica.
In its first investment in Brazil, Lowercarbon bets R$ 60 million on Lemon
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