Increase Access
to Renewable Energy Sources

Safeguard Quality
and Availability of Clean Water

Promote a Sustainable
and Healthy Way of Life

In 2010, our founders Emiliano and Davide met while working at La Fabbrica del Sole (a non-profit focused on constructing clean energy products) in Italy. During their time there, they collaborated with OXFAM on several projects around the world that brought electricity and clean water to rural areas.

In 2014, OXFAM's project was to install solar panels and a water purifying system into six kindergartens in rural South Africa. Installation would take at least three weeks due to vast distances, training labor force, and material availability, making it more difficult to finish the project. Tired of all the complications and the inefficiency, OffGridBox was born.

Emiliano and Davide started setting up as much as they could remotely in a small shipping container. They took the box to the kindergarten and set it up in three days instead of three weeks! As of today, it only takes three hours to install one box. After that successful day, they knew their project was scalable and adaptable to multiple situations.

After the founders took part in Techstars, Boston, OffGridBox went on to sell globally to individuals for off-grid living purposes with additional development projects. Our founders wanted to create a significant social impact, and that's why they chose Rwanda to set up a new African office. Rwanda’s support for green technology and innovation made it ideal for OffGridBox to start the PayAsYouGo model, which was then rolled out in neighbouring countries like Tanzania and Uganda, with women acting as daily operators (BoxKeepers). Tens of thousands of families in East Africa now have affordable access to purified water and solar energy because of the OffGridBox in their community. We look forward to expanding our reach to enable homes and communities to become sustainable and resilient.

Jodie Wu

Chief Executive Officer

Jodie has 12+ years’ working in East Africa, with a focus on renewable energy, and last-mile distribution. Fluent in Swahili, an MIT mechanical engineer, and social entrepreneur who sold her first company. Echoing Green Fellow, TED Global Fellow, D-Lab Scale-Ups Fellow, and C3E International Award Winner.

Bas Berends

Chief Partnership Officer

Bas has 20 years’ experience as a former Dutch diplomat, working on Environment, Energy and Sustainable Development. He takes care of Business Development, Fundraising and Partnerships. Master’s degrees in International Relations, Rural Development, and European Studies. Bas is a World Economic Forum UpLink Top Innovator.

Emiliano Cecchini, PhD

Founder & CTO

Emiliano has 20 years of international expertise in the industry and has built the world's first underground hydrogen pipe system. He launched three successful companies in the renewables sector. He has a degree in Physics and a PhD in Chemistry.

Davide Bonsignore

Founder & COO

Davide has worked in 4 African countries leading feasibility studies and deployment of off-grid solutions in remote areas. He is on the board of 2 companies specialized in the production of alternative energies. He has an MSc in Economics and International Development.

Gloire Irenge

Field Logistics and Technical Lead

Gloire is an Electro-mechanical Engineer with many years of experience working for different solar energy companies in DRC. He is in charge of OffGridBox project implementation in DRC, where the current focus is on the electrification of health facilities.