Boyd’s power play a ray of light for world’s poor
Friday, August 10, 2012
Almost every entrepreneur says they want to “change the world”, but for Australian Boyd Whalan, the phrase is more than just a cheap cliche.
The master of management student wants to bring cheap, clean energy to the world’s poorest consumers in Africa – and his business plan, built with a team of fellow students from the University of Sydney, recently beat out global contenders to win first place in the 2012 CEMS Global Social Business Plan Competition.
Whalan’s start-up Hessex, wants to provide bottom-of-the-pyramid consumers in Africa with access to high quality, clean energy through pay-for-use solar technology.
Users unlock more power by paying via mobile phone and entering a code into the keypad.
He’s already built a prototype, having come up with the idea when he spent six weeks volunteering in Ghana last year with not-for-profit organisation Energy in Common.
Source: Sydney Morning Herald (link opens in a new window)
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