Benedict Owanga’s entrepreneurial “spark” first ignited during a power outage.
He was a student at Emory Law School in Atlanta when his building lost power one day while he was studying. That was certainly a frustration, but power outages are ultimately a rarity in the United States. It got him thinking about how much of a disruption it would be to live in a place that dealt with inconsistent access to electricity.
That is a reality in many places across the Democratic Republic of Congo, where Benedict and his family are from. Benedict, along with fellow Emory Law student Chinelo Adi, wanted to change that dynamic and make power more accessible in Africa. The two originally planned to import battery packs from China, but they shifted to focus on sustainability and cost-effective battery options.
That’s when Owanga Solar was born.
The startup, which was born while Benedict and Chinelo were still in law school, provides renewable, affordable, and clean energy solutions. Its “battery-as-a-service” platform provides rentable and portable solar energy packs that can be used to power businesses and individual households.
The system, called Chisun, is designed to provide reliable power off-grid. The startup’s solar-powered batteries can be rented for $2 a day, making it more accessible than expensive traditional generators. The battery packs are developed from repurposed laptop batteries and plastics, according to the company’s website.
During a pilot program in Congo, Owanga’s battery-as-a-service platform helped business owners stay open longer, hence driving more revenue.
Owanga is currently working on making battery solutions that are stackable in order to help deliver bigger batteries and more power to customers.
From Atlanta To Africa
While the team behind Chisun is hyperfocused on delivering energy to Africa, Atlanta has played a key part in the startup’s early success.
Benedict pitched and won several local competitions, including those run by Fusen World’s Cleantech Innovation Challenge and EO Atlanta.
The startup is also gaining traction on the international startup stage. Owanga was recently named as one of sixteen finalists for the Hult Prize, an international student-focused competition focused on startups solving the United Nations’ sustainable development challenges.
The winner, announced in September, will receive $1 million in investment funding.
While finishing up his degree at Emory, Benedict balanced school and founder 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 traction for the company.
Right now, the team behind Owanga is focused on finding an electric engineer to help scale up their product and new pilot program partners.
On the personal side, Benedict is focused on studying for the Bar Exam before his next big adventure: Moving back to Congo to work on scaling the startup full time.
