There’s no guide on how to build the perfect startup or how to navigate the entrepreneurship landscape as a founder. So, I’m grateful to KS WELI and UT for creating this space for female founders and supporting them as they progress along their entrepreneurship journeys.
Sahana Raj, c/o 2026
About the FoundHER(s)
As a fellow in the Ideator fellowship at the Social Entrepreneurship Learning Lab, I was pushed to identify issues facing the people I care about in order to find a solution for an issue I was passionate about solving. It was then that I remembered how my family in India was personally impacted by power failures that happen on a daily basis.
As I conducted research and beneficiary interviews, I realized there was a lack of renewable products that could serve as a form of back-up power during power outages available mainstream for consumers. Thus, I began to think about how I could design a solar product that could fit into their lives to be a reliable source of power during outages that isn’t attached to the electric grid. That was when the Energy Umbrella was born!
About the Company
The Energy Umbrella is a solar energy source that provides affordable, convenient, and reliable power to urban Indian households during frequent power outages using our unique solar panel design.
Imagine having no power – you couldn’t study for that big exam tomorrow, get work done, cook food, or even relax at a reasonable temperature. But, this is a rare occurrence for most of us. However, this is life every day for 500 million Indian residents, or 7% of the entire world’s population that experience power outages for 2-10 hours daily.
Currently, most urban middle-class Indian families decide between either expensive or low-energy outputting power sources, all of which require grid charging and further add to already expensive electric bills. Moreover, there’s a lack of consumer and household solar products available to these families. The Energy Umbrella aims to solve all of these issues with a design specifically created for storage and use in urban homes, making solar power more accessible to families.
By providing reliable and affordable power to Indian families during outages, the Energy Umbrella aims to improve energy inequality, and thereby better the educational and economic outcomes for hundreds of millions of people.
Energy Umbrella
Industry
Renewable Energy
Mission
Despite frequent power outages, we hope to get families back to doing what they love. We aim to power homes and power lives.
Year Founded
2022
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