Esbon Ogeto and EcoBlu
Esbon Ogeto is a Mount Kenya University student innovator and co-creator, with fellow student Bettinah Maruti, of EcoBlu, a fully off-grid atmospheric water harvesting system. Instead of relying on boreholes or piped supply, EcoBlu pulls moisture from the air to produce clean drinking water, with a stated mission of widening access to safe water in arid and semi-arid communities.
In September 2025 the pair took EcoBlu to the AGEA Start-up Class, part of the EU-funded ACCESS 2.0 programme hosted at Leipzig University's SEPT Competence Centre in Germany. The programme gathered a dozen science-based start-ups from universities in Kenya, Ghana, Benin and Rwanda for two weeks of training in business planning, financial modelling and pitching. At the closing pitch competition, judges named EcoBlu the most investment-worthy project.
Back home, Mount Kenya University pledged further backing through its Incubation and Innovation Centre, including prototype testing, guidance on protecting the invention through the Kenya Industrial Property Institute, and help reaching international markets. The team has entered the university's accelerator programme and is developing a second-generation prototype designed as a premium outdoor water gadget for European buyers.
Highlights
- Most investment-worthy project, ACCESS 2.0 AGEA Start-up Class pitch competition, Leipzig University, Germany (September 2025)
- Selected for the EU-funded AGEA Start-up Class at Leipzig University's SEPT Competence Centre (2025)
- Backed by Mount Kenya University's Incubation and Innovation Centre, including IP support via KIPI (2025)
- Second-generation EcoBlu prototype in development (2025)
