Catalyst Energy Advisors
Impact Studio

Transforming markets through innovation.

Impact Studio /ˈɪm.pækt ˈstjuː.di.oʊ/ · noun

An ventureimpact studio is an organization that creates startupsinterventions that deliver impact, typically by providing the ideas, initial team, strategic direction, and capital for the startupconcept to reach product-market fitscale.

Hover the highlighted words — see how we’ve reimagined the venture studio for impact.

The Impact Studio is Catalyst’s dedicated platform for designing and scaling market-shaping solutions that accelerate energy access. Building on over a decade of sector leadership, the Studio institutionalizes our innovation work — moving beyond standalone projects to create lasting, systemic change.

We originate and incubate demand-led initiatives that unlock the full commercial and social value of energy for customers, companies, capital providers, and countries — turning bold ideas into practical, market-ready solutions that strengthen and scale clean energy markets.

Initiatives of the Studio

The Back-Up Servicer (BUS) Initiative addresses a critical vulnerability in the off-grid solar sector: the disruption of customer service and cash flows when a PAYGo operator fails, a default risk that currently deters institutional capital. To solve this, the initiative is designing a neutral, pan-African safety net to maintain continuous payment processing and system operations during operator distress. By securing revenue links and ensuring uninterrupted energy access, the BUS Initiative aims to protect investor capital, lower financing costs, and make off-grid solar structurally bankable across the continent.

Learn more

RBF Works is an industry-wide collaborative initiative that aims to improve how clean energy funding is deployed by making results-based financing (RBF) more sustainable, inclusive, and aligned with national electrification goals. Acting as a hub for learning and collaboration, it helps transform RBF from a short-term funding mechanism into a long-term market-building tool, supporting a resilient provider ecosystem and moving the sector beyond fragmented grant-based approaches.

rbf.works

The PAYGo Lab addresses a systemic industry challenge: an overemphasis on rapid sales over sustainable credit management, which has left average sector collection rates at just 70%. As a hands-on partner, the Lab pairs industry experts with companies to build the robust credit systems and tools needed to manage portfolios at scale. Ultimately, the Lab transforms fragmented practices into a bankable, sustainable ecosystem, making last-mile credit work to safely expand asset access.

Rebranded to the Micro Asset Finance (MAF) Lab in 2025.

www.maf-lab.com

VentureBuilder was established to scale African-owned off-grid solar companies by pairing equity investments with intensive enterprise development to overcome persistent gaps in patient capital. As the vehicle winds down its active operations, its focus has shifted to preserving its institutional legacy. The Studio will soon publish a candid retrospective, translating nearly a decade of frontier execution into unfiltered insights to guide the next generation of sector interventions.

www.venture-builder.com

The Access Insights Platform (AIP) is an open-source geospatial platform that unifies fragmented last-mile delivery data. AIP uses the Multi-Tier Framework (MTF) to map energy access as a realistic spectrum, blending demographic, infrastructure, and economic data into clear visual analytics. By democratizing this information, AIP empowers enterprises, governments, and development partners to replace guesswork with data-driven clarity, optimizing strategic decisions and maximizing deployment impact.

accessinsights.org

Build the future with us.

Connect with Kat Harrison, Head of the Impact Studio, to explore partnership opportunities and collaborate on solutions to the sector’s most pressing challenges.

Connect with Kat