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Watt It Takes
with Xavier Helgesen

In this episode: Emily’s conversation with Xavier Helgesen, the co-founder and former CEO of Zola Electric, a provider of solar and storage systems in Africa. Since its founding in 2012 as Off-Grid Electric, the company has served over a million people with clean power in five countries.

 
 
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Xavier Helgesen

Co-Founder & Former CEO
Zola Electric
 
 
Xavier is a serial entrepreneur, founding Better World Books and Indaba Systems after graduating from the University of Notre Dame. Better World Books was a founding B Corporation and has raised over $20 Million for literacy and donated over 20 million books. Xavier founded Off Grid Electric, Africa’s fastest growing solar leasing company. The company was founded on a vision to make solar affordable and accessible to the 1.3 billion people who live without electricity. Off Grid Electric has won the Zayed Future Energy Prize, the Ashden Award, and has raised over $100 Million in private-public capital to solve one of the world’s biggest problems.
 
 

Watt It Takes is our monthly podcast that tells the stories of founders who are building a carbon-free future — their upbringings, their risks, their failures, and their breakthroughs that are transforming our world.

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
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