Bloomberg Invests In Ólafur Elíasson’s Solar Lamps

Former Mayor of New York, Michael Bloomberg, has invested 5 million dollars in artist Ólafur Elíasson’s solar lamp project, Little Sun, reports Politiken.

Little Sun is a project currently operating in seven African countries and works to provides clean, solar-powered ‘Little Sun’ lights to people particularly in off-grid areas. The project also trains young entrepreneurs to become Little Sun sales agents, powering their small businesses with an initial seed capital of Little Sun lamps.

“First and foremost we deliver energy,” Ólafur said. “We believe that clean and cheap energy – that is good for the environment – is the future. [The investment] means that we’re secure and that our growth is secured. We look at it as an endorsement of the fact that we have a business model that they have the courage to invest in.”

The money from Bloomberg will be used to hire additional staff, increase the number of Little Suns across Africa as well as build small “energy stores” where people can get their phones charged.