Meet the 10 local leaders who make up the 2024 Acumen Energy for Livelihoods Accelerator. They are consistently unbundling barriers to clean and affordable energy for all:
Fiberkiosk (Ethiopia) tackles the pressing issues of energy access and economic disparity in underserved Ethiopian communities. Through a network of micro-entrepreneurs running solar kiosks, they provide access to charging and refrigeration to communities, and income for the operators.
eWAKA Mobility (Kenya) provides eco-friendly, electric mobility options through access to locally assembled electric cargo bicycles and motorcycles and retrofitted motorcycles for delivery and commuting. Â
Yenda Mobility (Ethiopia) addresses inefficient last-mile delivery and mobility challenges by providing electric cargo bicycles to professional delivery riders, enhancing their efficiency and reducing carbon emissions.
Millennium Engineers (Tanzania) is a female-founded Tanzanian renewable energy company specialized in solar for increasing production and reducing waste for fisherfolk.Â
Irri-Hub (Kenya) leverages technology to provide smallholder farmers with climate-smart solar-enabled drip irrigation solutions to enable them to maximize productivity and build resilience against climate change.
Awelo Millers (Uganda) is a youth-led Agro processing enterprise adding value and minimizing post harvest losses of sunflower and maize crops through the provision of collapsible grain drying, seed cleaning, and a guaranteed buy back scheme for farmers.
Plumbee (Kenya) is a food processing company with a focus on childhood nutrition. Plumbee develops strong linkages with women smallholder farmers — arranging them into groups, and training and contracting them to supply and process the ingredients used in their products through solar dryers.
Drop Access (Kenya) manufactures and supplies solar-powered cold chain solutions to rural communities in Kenya, including VacciBox, a portable solar-powered healthcare refrigerator, and KOYO, a solar fridge ideal for farmers and households.
Munakyalo Agrofresh ​​addresses post-harvest losses in rural communities by providing solar-powered IoT cooling hubs and off-grid refrigeration solutions to smallholder farmers in Uganda.
Solafam Uganda addresses the pressing problem of food waste and insecurity in rural Uganda by offering cost-effective solar-powered cold rooms to farmers and food vendors, using a pay-per-use system and selling any surplus solar energy generated to local businesses.
Having consistently proven their capacity for bold ideas, creativity, and grit, these 10 entrepreneurs will, on graduation, join the Foundry – Acumen Academy’s global network of more than 1,600 alumni – where they will have unrivalled access to peers, resources, mentoring, and social and financial capital. Â