Meet this year’s inspiring Swiss ClimateLaunchpad Contestants

e-Waka Mobility – sustainable smart mobility solutions for the African continent

e-Waka Mobility aims to provide efficient and sustainable smart mobility alternatives across the African continent to counter mobility inequalities and reduce pollution caused by high CO2 emissions. The company can do so by leveraging existing e-technology and innovation to support the transition from fossil fueled to electric mobility.

Transport makes up for more than a quarter of global greenhouse gas emissions. In Kenya alone, transport generated fossil fuel C02 emissions represent 37.7%, which correspond to over 6mio tons of C02 per year (worldometer). Additionally the number of registered motorcycles in Kenya is projected to grow to over five million by 2030. Converting 1% of the Kenyan market to electric mobility would already reduce emissions by 40’000 tons.

E-Waka tackles the African transportation challenge by offering a viable, reliable, safe and budget friendly transport solution to commuters who otherwise would need to travel in highly polluting vans or on foot, consequently enhancing regional productivity and economic prosperity. The company has also found that there is a high need for superior mobility infrastructure on multi-acre grounds, such as industrial or residential estates, universities, hotels etc., which E-waka sees as an additional market opportunity.

Additionally to their own fleet of e-motorcycles and e-scooters, E-Waka offers a platform that connects multiple solution providers within the e-mobility realm (financing, technical support, hardware, charging, e-commerce etc) with users.

E-Waka founders Celeste Vogel and Jimmy Tune have extensive experience working in the international engineering sector and on cross border financial as well as strategic management issues. Additionally, the company relies on a core management team with vast experience in management and production on the African continent.

As co-founder Celeste Tchetgen Vogel shares, the team at e-Waka finds inspiration in the vision of «offering a green response to Africa’s expanding transportation requirements in rapidly growing urban areas while also being able to target fundamental historic inequities in transportation access across the African continent »

Learn more about E-Waka here

Beyond Scroll – oil-free gas compressing solutions

Beyond Scroll responds to the lack on the market of a small-scale completely oil-free compressor for low power rating and high pressures. The startup has created a new gas compression device based on a co-rotating scroll technology, which not only operates at high speed and pressures, but also does so without the use of oil while being fully recyclable. This enables its use for off-grid energy production or storage, hydrogen refueling stations or e-mobility.

Compressors are key components in a variety of industrial processes. Usually these machines use oil for lubrication and sealing. This will cause system contamination, higher overhaul costs and above all planet contamination and difficulties to recycle, amongst other. So far the market has not offered any reliable oil-free gas compression solutions for low power applications, consequently hindering global energy transition towards a more sustainable low-carbon economy.

The solution offered by Beyond Scroll directly addresses the hydrogen value chain storage stage, which currently entails very high costs due to the lack of small oil-free compressors. With their compressors they can unlock the benefits of hydrogen fuel as a sustainable alternative to fossil sources.

Beyond Scroll envisions to disrupt off-grid and hydrogen sectors, contributing to C02 reduction and to the development of smart cities conceived around sustainability and decarbonization. One future goal is to implement their compressor at household level. Marianna Fighera, co-founder and engineer at Beyond Scroll likes to imagine a future in which « one by one, every house and building could be equipped with one of our plants, allowing to manage the household energy supply sourcing only from water and solar energy ».

Marianna Fighera shares this vision with co-founding partner Luis Mendoza. Together they hold extensive knowledge in engineering with many years of experience in the designing and manufacturing of scroll compressors. Their technical understading of the limitations and gaps in cutting-edge technology are complemented by a strong entrepreneurial mindset and talents for fundraising, people management and communications.

The team is eager to share their passion with the world. As Marianna Fighera emphasizes : «we strongly believe in our mission to promote the widespread use of hydrogen as an energy alternative to fossil fuels […] and we want to put our many years of experience in research and technology at the service of human needs, focusing on a clean future for the next generations » By adding to the global energy transition with their high-impact innovative solutions, Beyond Scroll aims to contribute towards a more sustainable low-carbon economy that can improve people’s lives.

Learn more about Beyond Scroll here