Frequently Asked Questions

We work with startups and established companies, non-profits, individual innovators, investors, and researchers. During our screening, we’ll ask questions to understand the project and assess applicants'/organizations' capacity to deliver it. We have a preference for companies located and run by people in the so-called “global south.”

We are interested in projects that directly address significant sector challenges -or- are ambitious, conceptual ideas addressing sector inefficiencies that are shared across the industry. We look for what we broadly consider to be “Building Blocks.” Generally speaking, we want to co-create solutions for problems that are commonly faced across the industry.

As an example, mini-grid companies need to design and estimate the costs of a distribution network for potential project sites. While some companies have an in-house team and/or tool to address this need, no such network design tool exists on a freely accessible and open-source basis. This means that new or upcoming mini-grid companies will have to spend time and resources figuring out this aspect of their operations. While being able to design and cost a distribution network is a critical part of becoming a commercially viable mini-grid company, it’s not the source of sustainable competitive advantage. In this sense, this shared challenge could be easily addressed by an Open Source tool.

An Open Source network design tool would be what we’d call a sector “Building Block”. All developers could download the tool, adapt it to their needs, contribute to the user community, and start using it as a jointly maintained tool in their operations.

Whether your project is big or small, concretely defined or exploratory, and has to do with either commercial or technology development, we are interested to hear about it. We are looking for radical ideas that can push new thinking or bring efficiencies to the industry.

We do not currently provide project grants, but occasionally, we may put out a specific call for proposals, focusing on one sort of idea or one location in the world. So stay tuned. However, when we decide to engage in co-creating an innovation or tool we may be able to absorb parts of the R&D, promotional, and dissemination efforts and costs. This particularly applies to R&D, which is performed by actors in the so-called “global south.”

If the project fits our criteria, we will also use our vast experience in the energy access sector and our network to co-fundraise, if required, to meet the project's financial needs. It is easier to approach funders or grants as a joint effort, and we will consider coming along as a partner - as long as the project is totally Open Source or (in the case of larger projects) if it has a relevant and significant Open Source or Open Access component.

In terms of specific selection criteria, we review several factors.

1. Demonstrated market need and/or appetite
We assess - through a dedicated market research/stakeholders consultation and based on our own experience - whether the proposed innovation is likely going to be useful and needed for the Energy Access sector.

2. Evidence-based theory of change
This criterion aims at ensuring that a certain proposed innovation is justified by evidence and not (solely) by the Innovator’s gut feeling.

3. Logical framework foundation
The proposed project narrative follows a logical framework and correctly identifies and connects cause-effect relationships.

4. Potential for sector-building impact
This criterion concerns the direct applicability of the innovation to energy access. This is the place where we draw the line between direct and indirect effects; if we think that innovation will only very remotely affect the sector, we tend to discard the project for our support or collaboration. This is related and goes hand-in-hand with point 1 above.

5. Innovative content
The proposed project must be innovative to the best of our knowledge and be backed by sector stakeholder feedback, suggesting a significant improvement in existing models or technologies or at least open-sourcing them for a wider audience than currently reached by the incumbent.

6. Open Source
The proposed innovation must be entirely open-sourced, and potential future adopters must be able to reproduce and use the innovation in its entirety with reasonable effort and without needing specific exclusive underpinning technologies or requirements. Here, we focus on funding the “building blocks.”

7. Capacity of the partner to deliver
The innovator or applicant must provide sufficient background experience in the sector and in the proposed category of innovation to give us confidence in their ability to deliver on the proposed innovation.

8. Quality of the project plan and budget
The proposed project plan is practical and reflects the closest reflection of the resource requirement with a proper explanation to deliver the innovation and not inflated to cover the applicant’s organization's usual business expenses.

9. Project-specific risks
Project proposals are also reviewed on any direct or indirect risks identified either during the evaluation of proposals or dependency on 3rd parties to deliver the project.

10. Timeframe of project
We strongly prefer projects that can be completed within 12 months.

The Project pitches are reviewed on a first come, first serve basis. Once you’ve clicked “submit”, this is the process that takes place:

• When your Pitch has been received by a real person, you’ll get an email confirmation that we have it in good order. This usually takes up to 5 business days.

• If the project is very far from what EnAccess does or if you didn’t fill out the Pitch  correctly and completely, you may not hear back at all.

• If your idea or proposal meets our co-collaboration criteria, you will receive a positive email from EnAccess asking to schedule a call to go over some details. This email may already come with a series of follow-up questions that you should be prepared to answer. At this point, we need to get your response before we move ahead. Assuming the back-and-forth communication happens rather efficiently, this part of the process can take one-two weeks. If the communication does not happen quickly, this part can end up taking longer. To move this step along, please respond promptly and completely to any emails we send.

• If the follow-up communication leads us to decide that your project does not meet our co-creation criteria, you will receive an email with that information (a rejection). On the other hand, if we think your project has potential, we will move ahead and start talking about more details.

• As a next step, you would be invited to pitch your idea in our Discord Community and to drive some discussion around it to ensure the community backs the need and value of your proposal. It is also possible we contact specific stakeholders to receive feedback on your proposal

• From this point onward, our communication will be figured out on a case by case basis.

These are the questions you'll have to answer when you submit your Project pitch. Incomplete forms will not be considered.

The short answer is that we give feedback to every applicant that has an idea for an Open Source project that benefits the Energy Access sector. Ideas that have potential to grow into something fitting will definitely be considered, and we can work together to make it fit into the EnAccess criteria. We believe the application process should be a conversation, not a gamble. In case your idea is clearly outside off our scope - for example, it has zero relevant Open Source components - it might get rejected relatively quickly. But wherever we see a chance and some potential, we can re-scope and shape the project together with you.

Yes, but we’re a small team; hence have limited capacities to perform high-quality assessments. Please consider this if making multiple submissions.

Yes, Open Source thrives from joint efforts and collaborations. Our engagement will be with one “lead” entity, but you are free to collaborate with partners.

We prefer receiving any sort of communications in English as this is the language we share in common in our Team. This facilitates and speeds up the evaluation process. However, we also speak German, French, Italian, and Spanish. You may submit in any of those languages as well, but be aware this might significantly delay the review and feedback process. All project documents for publication and review will need to be in English.