2020-21 Legatum Fellows: Infrastructure

AWELE UWAGWU AREA OF STUDY  SB, CHEMICAL ENGINEERING SECTOR  ENERGY/UTILITIES VENTURE LOCATION  NIGERIA

2020 – 2021 LEGATUM FELLOW MASTERCARD FOUNDATION

Awele was born and raised in Port Harcourt, Nigeria and experienced first-hand how poor energy access and energy resource management affects families and communities. Awele’s venture, Idagba, is a solar system design startup aimed at making the design of solar systems faster, cheaper and more efficient. The design package will reduce transportation costs and design time for solar installers while still ensuring customer’s needs are met.

CARL DEY AREA OF STUDY  EMBA, SLOAN SECTOR  REAL ESTATE VENTURE LOCATION  GHANA

2020 – 2021 LEGATUM FELLOW MASTERCARD FOUNDATION

Carl’s desire is to ensure that every family is able to afford a home in their lifetime—a vision that was inspired by his difficulties he experienced as a child growing up in Ghana. His venture, Impact-G, is building efficient, integrated and sustainable housing facilities with expert technology that is affordable to the ordinary Ghanaian family and aims to reduce the housing deficit by 25% in 7 years.

CHRISTABEL SITIENEI AREA OF STUDY  SM, SCHOOL OF ENGINEERING SECTOR  IT/TELECOM VENTURE LOCATION  SIERRA LEONE

2020 – 2021 LEGATUM FELLOW MASTERCARD FOUNDATION & JACOBS FOUNDATION

A former undergrad and current Masters of Engineering candidate at MIT, Christabel, who was born and raised in Kenya, believes in building simple technologies in novel ways to improve efficiency and logistics for maximal impact. Christabel’s venture, Majji, ensures reliable water supply in resource-constrained environments with a low-cost device that monitors water levels in tanks or reservoirs and reports the levels via SMS to relevant parties so that quick action can be taken.

GUSTAVO PAREDES AVENDANO AREA OF STUDY  MBA, SLOAN SECTOR  PROFESSIONAL SERVICES VENTURE LOCATION  MEXICO

2020 – 2021 LEGATUM FELLOW

Gustavo’s venture, Recicla2, offers in-building recycling and waste management services for residential buildings in Mexico. In Mexico City, residents generate daily around 13 thousand tons of solid waste, and less than 2% are correctly recycled. Gustavo was born and raised in Cruz Azul, a co-operative city in Mexico, where he found inspiration for Recicla2 in the unique city’s recycling and social impact investing models.

LUIS RODRIGUEZ AREA OF STUDY  MBA, SLOAN FELLOW SECTOR  AUTOMOTIVE VENTURE LOCATION  MEXICO

2020 – 2021 LEGATUM FELLOW

Luis’s venture, FlexMMex, is a flexible manufacturing hub within a collaborative network - provider for low volume projects or companies that want to manufacture electric vehicle components or assemble niche vehicles with electro-mobility applications. Luis is passionate about electromobility because this disruption in the industry represents cleaner and more efficient manufacturing processes providing a positive impact on the planet's carbon emissions.

PULKIT SHAMSHERY AREA OF STUDY  MBA, SLOAN SECTOR  ENERGY/UTILITIES VENTURE LOCATION  KENYA

2020 – 2021 LEGATUM FELLOW

Pulkit’s venture, Illumina Africa Limited, focuses on delivering turn-key solar PV solutions for residential, commercial, industrial and agricultural projects in Kenya and East Africa. Access to clean water, a cold supply chain and electricity enables communities to improve their standard of living and thrive economically. Having grown up in Kenya, Pulkit wants to dedicate his life to building a region discounted by many despite the plethora of untapped opportunity.