Soulshare earns Tk 8 crore annually from eco-friendly initiatives

Mokarram Hossain, Proprietor of Easybike Garage, Pubail Police Station, Gazipur. Last year all the Easybikes in his garage ran on lead acid batteries. These lead acid batteries lose their performance after years. So he thought of running an easybike with a lithium ion battery. Problem with that too. Because lithium ion batteries are expensive.

Considering the risk of investment in easybike batteries, no bank or microcredit disbursing organization gives loans to this sector. In such a situation, the startup company Soulshare helps the owner of the Easybike garage to get lithium batteries through a bank loan.

Originally, the startup SoulShare has separately added an IoT (Internet of Things) chip to the lithium battery. With this chip, SoulShare can stop the charging and performance of this battery if desired in the Pay As You Go (PAYG) model. So banks and micro-lending institutions can also give loans without risk.

Soulshare's initiative is called Soulmability. An easybike driver has to pay Tk 10,000 to avail this service. Apart from this, through Solmability, a garage owner can install a solar-powered charging station without a one-time fee.

Mokarram Hossain, the owner of Easybike Garage, said that lithium batteries are economical to use and maintenance costs are low. As a result, the income increased by 20 percent. And through them, lithium batteries are being used without a one-time large sum of money.

SoulShare, however, has three other initiatives. One of its initiatives is called SoulGrid. Through this technology, a solar power user can sell his unused power. And another initiative of theirs is Solroof. Through this, any organization can set up solar power technology through Soulshare. This led to the development of SoulShare's business. For example, the company has earned about 8 crore rupees in the financial year 2024-25. And since its inception, it has received 7.7 million dollars in grants and awards.

Aziza Sultana, deputy executive officer of SoulShare, said, "Tesla and BYD may have sold 4 million electric cars in the whole world." But there are about 50 lakh easy bikes in our country. All of them have a storage of electricity. At present we have provided this technical service to around 300 Easybikes. These batteries return to the garage with 30 to 40 percent power. If this technology can be spread on a large scale, this electricity can also be used in the national grid through net metering in the future.

Isa Abrar Ahmed, director of the product and commercial department of SoulShare, said, "A lithium ion battery lasts for four years. But it costs about two and a half times more than lead acid batteries. For this we have arranged loans through various banks and financial institutions. And by adding our technology to this battery, we can control it. We can stop the performance of that battery if we want.

How SoulShare's Journey Began

SoulShare's journey began in 2014 with the SoulGrid initiative. Sebastian Groh, the founder of SoulShare, is a German citizen. He did his PhD on the role of energy in the development process, energy poverty and technological innovation. He came to Bangladesh in 2013 as a part of research at that time. According to Sebastian Groh, there are about 4 million solar power systems in the country. About 30 percent of the solar power generated in this system is not used. Then he came up with the idea of ​​sharing solar power through a peer-to-peer (person-to-person) energy exchange network.

The next year, i.e. 2014, Sebastian Groh came back to Bangladesh and founded a startup called Soulshare. He started this initiative through IoT technology called 'Soul Grid'. In total, the company received an investment of 50 million US dollars. As a result of his initiative, the marginalized people got the opportunity to use electricity in areas where there is no electricity. However, in 2022, electricity service reached most of the country. As a result, the demand for this service decreases.

In 2022, a new initiative was brought by 'e-mobility'. Then the company came up with their other initiative Soul Roof. All brands and factories now aim to achieve net-zero carbon. But the pressure to meet that target is not low and it is also expensive. Management also requires technical skills. This is where SoulShare provides the advantage.

In addition, in 2023, the Danish organization Bestseller and Soulshare jointly launched the Greener Garments Initiative (GGI). Through this, any organization can buy this technology from them if they want. Currently nobody can officially sell this unused electricity nationally. However, if there is a policy on this, it is possible to sell this electricity. So far Solshare has installed 8 MW of solar power plants. Another 8 MW is in process of production. Apart from this, Solshare will set up another 100 MW solar power plant in the future.