FounderHyaPak
Joseph Nguthiru is a climatech engineer passionate about sustainability, and transforming livelihoods through impactful innovation. The Presidential Awardee for the best innovator in Kenya, his works include designing the solar dryer being used to revive the country’s pyrethrum farming, smart roads, and AI solutions for forest protection, among others.
His current initiative is HyaPak; a startup tackling plastic pollution by creating biodegradable alternatives from the invasive aquatic weed, water hyacinth. HyaPak was recently awarded the best innovation in Nature, Food and water systems at COP28, and has been listed among the top 30 startups in Africa by the Yale Africa Startup Review.
Beyond HyaPak, Joseph spearheads community-driven initiatives on river cleanups and forest restoration activities.
Joseph is also an Obama Foundation Leader and part of Meta’s Top 25 Under 25 Young Climate Prize.