Retail prices of energy and lighting products in emerging markets are simply too high for end users, argues Lesley Marincola. As a result, large populations throughout the world live off the grid and have to rely on kerosene fuel and other less efficient light sources. To help combat this widespread energy poverty problem, Angaza has developed a pay-as-you-go financing platform for its solar products, as opposed to a large up-front retail price. In this podcast, Marincola also offers insights on her design and implementation of Angaza products, specifically focusing on user needs in these developing markets.
Lesley Marincola, CEO and founder of Angaza Design, is a product designer (B.S.) and mechanical engineer (M.S.) from Stanford University. Prior to founding Angaza, Lesley worked with the Amazon Design team at Lab126 on the first three iterations of the Kindle, and at D2M Inc., a Bay Area design consultancy. She was recognized by Businessweek as one of “America’s Best Young Entrepreneurs,” is a World Economic Forum Young Global Shaper, was named a Forbes “30 Under 30” Entrepreneur, and is a 2013 Echoing Green Fellow. Marincola’s vision is to solve the world’s most widespread problems–like energy access–with market-driven technology innovation developed from a human-centered design approach.