Alex Mativo Biography
Alex is also the recipient of the Queen’s Young Leaders Award.
He has been in the industry from 2014 to the present.
Alex Mativo Early Life
He was born in Nairobi, Kenya and grew up in Athi-river. He schooled at Lenana school Nairobi.
Alex Mativo Age
He was born on 21st April 1994 in Nairobi, Kenya. He is 24 years old as of 2018.
Alex Mativo Enterprise and entrepreneurship
He has come across different audiences in Africa sharing his business start-up story. TEDx is one of the Notable public speaking talks on why we should embrace design thinking at The African leadership University alongside the President of the Republic of Mauritius Ameenah Gurib-Fakim whom also his presence was seen in May 2016. He was also an attendee of the 2015 one young world summit in Bangkok, Thailand where he represented his country Kenya. He has also developed several high impact projects through E-LAB which have resulted in the eradication of 3000 tons of electronic waste Across Africa.
Alex Mativo Height
Motivo’s height is still under research.
Alex Mativo Family
Information about his family will be soon updated.
Alex Mativo Relation
Information about his relationship life is not disclosed.
Alex Mativo Education
Mativo attended Lenana school in Nairobi and later joined the University of Nairobi where he partaking a bachelor degree in Computer Science.
Alex Mativo Career
To help solve the problem of electronic waste in his community, Mativo founded E-LAB in 2013. His company was listed among the global entrepreneurship week top 50 most innovative companies in the world by the Global Entrepreneurship Week and the Kauffman Foundation in the same year after participating in the in the startup open competitions. Mativo is also the founder and CEO of the Global retail company Nanasi.
Alex Mativo Net Worth
Information concerning his net worth is still under research.
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Alex Mativo Interview
Kenyan Innovators Alex Mativo and Simon Mumo Speak About Their Startup, E-Lab
03 September 2014
Statistics show that Kenya as the IT hub in East Africa and a key entry point for electronics in Africa attracts a horde of outdated products. This poses a huge challenge for the health and safety of users because of the radioactive nature of such metallic paraphernalia. However, innovators Simon Mumo and Alex Mativo spotted an opportunity by way of providing a clever solution to the challenge of electronic waste. The solution inspired the creation E-Lab, a venture that has quickly grown to capture the continent’s attention including a featured on CNN’s African Startup. E-Lab’s core business entails collecting e-waste and turning it into innovative consumer products even as the start-up creates jobs and de-clutters the environment off would be cancerous dumped electronics. Bizrika has a word with Alex on E-Lab’s activities. Questions by Bizrika are in bold.
Q; What is E-Lab? Why did you choose the name?
E-lab stands for electronic waste lab and we chose the name because we aimed at not only eradicating electronic waste but also fabricating it into innovative products at our fabrication labs.
Q; Now that you have grown into more than a start-up, where do you source for the electronic waste that you turn into artistic utilities?
E-lab has an electronic waste collection venture where on a monthly basis we offer our services to individual households, universities, both medium-sized and large industries or institutions and dump-sites. This E-waste is then transported to E-lab
Q;You stock unique earrings, craft pet mongrels, make furniture…and the list goes on. Which among these has turned out to be your best-selling item so far?
The best selling product so far has been jewelry, from earrings to bracelets. Because the fashion market in Kenya is really vibrant and consumers are always willing to embrace the latest and the most innovative new products.
Q; Sourcing for electronic waste is an involving job. Does this mean you have handy assistants you have employed to bring these raw materials on board?
E-lab currently employs four employees whose job description involves identifying electronic waste in major Kenyan towns and transporting it to E-lab. We also work alongside local entrepreneurs who source e-waste from dump-sites or landfills.T heir major market is E-lab. We therefore tackle a major socioeconomic problem in Africa which is unemployment.
Q; Do you have a policy for handling this waste to protect especially your employees from any related hazards?
Electronic waste is known to produce some of the most toxic gases and chemicals are known to mankind due to the presence of heavy metals, but only when exposed to extreme temperature conditions. At E-lab we make sure that our production process does not involve burning or altering the state of electronic waste. This, therefore, eradicates the environmental and health implications brought about by E-waste.
Q ; Let us delve into your working secrets if you allow us?. Do you employ specific technology to churn out electronic materials into products or you use a do-it-yourself approach?
All our products at E-lab are handcrafted, our secret is basically working with the best artistic minds we can possibly find and also channel most of our resources and time into making our products.
Q; Of all the e-waste that you collect, which is the most valuable?
Motherboards or logic boards are definitely the most valuable. They not only contain precious metals but also make the most amazing products.
Q; What is the most prevalent electronic gadget you find in dump sites?
The most prevalent electronic gadget you find in dump sites is your everyday household appliance from old and obsolete television sets or radios to computer monitors. This is due to the exponential increase in second-hand consumer electronics shipped from developed countries.
Q; What is your advice for other like-minded innovators like you, on taking advantage of their skills and venturing into what others are not doing?
I believe in the power that we African entrepreneurs have to change this continent. Therefore we shouldn’t wait for the perfect place and time to work on our ideas, however small they may seem at first they will one day change the world through a ripple effect because greatness is small things done tremendously well.
Q; How did Alex Mativo and Simon Mumo meet and come up with E-Lab?
Simon Mumo is an art and architecture major at the University of Nairobi where I am also pursuing a degree in computer science. Growing up together and knowing Simon for the longest time possible brought about a merging of ideas when we stumbled upon the electronic waste nuisance in Africa.
Thank you very much for talking to Bizrika. Wishing you success!