Atlanta-born startup powers Africa with battery-as-a-service solution

Editor’s Note: This article was originally published on Hypepotamus. It is republished on Global Atlanta as part of our content partnership with the Southeast’s leading source for innovation news. Sign up for Hypepotamus newsletters here.

Benedict Owanga’s entrepreneurial spark was first ignited during a power outage.

He was a student at Emory University School of Law in Atlanta when his apartment building lost power one day while he was studying. It was certainly frustrating, but power outages are ultimately rare in the UNITED STATESIt got him thinking about how disruptive it would be to live in a place where access to electricity was spotty.

This is a reality in many places across the Democratic Republic of Congowhere Benedict and his family are from. Benedict, with another Emory law student Chinelo Adi, wanted to change this dynamic and make electricity more accessible in Africa. The two men had initially planned to import batteries from Chinabut they focused on durability and cost-effective battery options.

When is it? Owanga Solar Energy was born.

The startup, which was born while Mr. Owanga and Ms. Chinelo were still in law school, offers a renewable, affordable and clean energy solution. Its “battery as a service” platform provides rentable and portable solar power packs that can be used to power businesses and individual households.

“I founded this company with a deep passion for sustainability and the transition to clean energy. Over time, I realized that even as the world moves in that direction, it is the people in developing countries who will be most impacted by climate change and, unfortunately, they often lack the resources and solutions needed to adapt,” Owanga told Emory News in July. “In essence, the Western world has access to the solutions to climate change, but we need to work harder to ensure that people in developing countries are not left behind.”

The system, called Chisun, is designed to provide reliable off-grid power. The startup’s solar-powered batteries can be rented for $2 a day, making them more affordable than expensive traditional generators. The battery packs are made from laptop batteries and recycled plastics, according to the company’s website.

In a pilot program in Congo, Owanga’s battery-as-a-service platform helped business owners stay open longer, generating more revenue.

Owanga is currently working on creating stackable battery solutions to provide larger batteries and more power to customers.

From Atlanta to Africa

While the team behind Chisun is hyper-focused on bringing energy to Africa, Atlanta played a key role in the startup’s early success.

Benedict has launched and won several local competitions, including those organized by Fusen World’s Cleantech Innovation Challenge and EO Atlanta.

The startup is also gaining traction on the international stage. Owanga was recently named one of 16 finalists for the Hult Prize, an international student competition for startups solving the United Nations’ sustainability challenges. Owanga will travel to the United Kingdom to pitch his project in August. The winner, announced in September, will receive $1 million in investment funding.

While completing his studies at Emory, Mr. Owanga balanced academic and founding responsibilities that took him back and forth between Atlanta and Central Africa. He also ended up in Germany And Mexico for pitch competitions to help build company traction.

Currently, the team behind Owanga is focused on finding an electrical engineer to help develop its product and finding new partners for its pilot program.

On the personal front, Mr. Owanga is focused on studying for the bar exam before his next big adventure: returning to Congo to work full-time on developing the startup.

Related