bio

Ugwem Eneyo is Nigerian-American engineer, inventor, climate entrepreneur and advisor. Ugwem founded and served as the CEO of venture-backed Shyft Power Solutions, an energy technology company that pioneered IoT and integrated software solutions for microgrids and smart cities in Africa. Ugwem led the acquisition of the company by Steama Company, where she serves on the Board of Directors and leads Product and Innovation.

Ugwem founded Shyft as a bi-product of her studies as a former MS/PhD student in Civil & Environmental Engineering at Stanford University. Seeing the promise of Africa’s emerging tech ecosystem and after winning both the MIT Clean Energy Prize, she took a chance at entrepreneurship - building the original technology and securing patents that were the basis for the company’s advanced metering infrastructure (AMI).

Ugwem has been recognized as Forbes 30 Under 30 in the Energy and Women of Renewable Industries and Sustainable Energy Honors, among other recognitions. She's one of the early black, female founders to have raised over $1M in venture capital and early climate tech entrepreneurs in Africa’s emerging tech ecosystem.

Ugwem’s family and upbringing, being from coastal regions of the Niger Delta (Rivers State and Akwa Ibom, Nigeria) and the region's complex history when it comes to environmental affairs, human rights and industry inspired her early interests in climate and sustainability. She graduated from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign with a degree in Civil and Environmental Engineering. Prior to attending Stanford, Ugwem worked as an Environmental and Regulatory Risk Advisor for infrastructure projects throughout South Asia, Africa, and the Americas.