1. YOUR PITCH.
EGG-tech proposes to connect low-income Africans to power via a unique battery-swap business model. We will start in Tanzania, where the team already has local contacts, and then expand to the rest of the continent.
Over 500 million Africans are without electricity. Difficult terrain, limited resources for infrastructure development, and a dispersed population have made it too expensive to connect many Africans to power suppliers.
In Tanzania alone 90% of all citizens – 35 million people – lack access to power. Yet 80% of all citizens live within 5k of the grid. As in much of Africa, the problem of access to electricity in Tanzania is one of “the last mile”.
EGG-tech bridges the last mile by taking electricity at its source – the grid – and packaging it into small, light rechargeable batteries each about the size of a brick. Each of these batteries has enough to power to operate lights and radio for a single household for three days.
Our customers will pay an annual fee, entitling them to have a single battery out at a time. They will pick up their battery at one of our distribution centers, use it to power their home, then return it to us when it is used up. We take the old battery to be recharged, meanwhile issuing the customer a new, freshly charged battery.
It is a simple but powerful idea that has the potential to boost productivity and improve the quality of life of millions of people in Africa by connecting them to power.
2. IDEA: WHAT SPARKED THE IDEA FOR YOUR BUSINESS PLAN?
The EGG-tech concept was originated by two MIT engineering PhDs who share a common passion for rural electrification. The EGG-tech team came together through a series of connections these students made to others in the business community who share their passion, and believe in EGG-tech’s mission and vision.
