Chidalu Onyenso is Making Clean Energy Work for African Businesses

She is the founder and CEO of Earthbond, a startup based in Lagos that helps small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) switch from diesel generators to clean, affordable solar energy.

Chidalu studied Political Economy at Princeton University, where she wrote her thesis on how entrepreneurship can bring stability in Africa.

She later earned an MBA from Harvard Business School, where she started building the idea for Earthbond.

During her time at Harvard, she joined programs like the Rock Summer Fellowship and the Harvard Innovation Lab to develop the company further.

Before starting Earthbond, Chidalu spent over 10 years working in fintech.

She was a product manager at IBM, where she helped create cross-border payment systems.

She also worked with startups like Fundera in New York and Raise in Nairobi, helping them build products that support small businesses and African founders.

She launched Earthbond in 2022 to make solar power easier and more affordable for Nigerian businesses.

The platform connects SMBs to solar providers and helps them get financing.

So far, Earthbond has assessed the energy needs of over 100 businesses in Lagos and has more than 1,800 companies on its waitlist.

In 2024, Earthbond raised $200,000 in pre-seed funding from Madica, an investment firm focused on African startups.

Chidalu’s work has gained global attention, with Earthbond named one of the “Most Disruptive MBA Startups of 2023” by Poets & Quants.

She’s also active in conversations around how better data can improve solar energy systems and make them more accessible.

Through Earthbond, Chidalu is showing what’s possible when African innovation meets real-world challenges.

She’s helping businesses grow, reducing pollution, and proving that clean energy can power economic change across the continent.