Elly Savatia has always been curious. From the early age of 10, he recalls dismembering electronic devices at home just to understand what made them tick.
At 13, he won his first ever innovation challenge when he invented a wind turbine that could generate energy. That marked the beginning of his several inventions that have now seen him travel the world and along the way collected a number of accolades.
“I got drawn to innovation at a very young age. I have never felt satisfied with traditional education and I have always pursued experiential learning opportunities. Got into challenges, hackathons and international programmes that challenged my thinking,” Elly notes.
He is a 2024 Mandela Washington Fellow, Presidential Innovation Award winner, Commonwealth Secretary General’s Award for Innovation winner, Unicef Generation-Unlimited Innovation Challenge winner, Top 11 AI innovations in Africa — name it.
"You don’t build solutions and take them to the people, you build with them."
In 2022, he won the first Kenyan Drone Business Competition, securing a fully-funded RPAS (Remotely Piloted Aircraft Systems) training scholarship from the US Embassy in Kenya.
“As a 16-year-old while in high school, I invented The Stair Ramp, an assistive technology robotic staircase that allows independent mobility for wheelchair users. The model incorporates sensors and levers and can be installed in buildings and adjust to different configurations based on user preference,” the innovator reveals.
In 2019, he was the captain for the Kenya national team at the annual First Global Robotics Competition in Dubai. “I designed concept, assembled and programmed the competition robot for Team Kenya, which competed in the inaugural Global Robotics Olympics in Dubai.”
For the tech-savvy, all his life has always been about coming up with innovations that offer solutions to the community.
“You don’t build solutions and take them to the people, you build with them,” says Elly who founded Signvrse in 2020.
“I realised the country’s glaring lack of infrastructure to teach health workers and educators Kenyan Sign Language (KSL) which created communication challenges for the hearing-impaired community. That is why I established Signvrse technology that uses sign language avatars to unlock inclusivity in digital spaces for deaf individuals.”
The mobile app provides real-time interpretation of spoken language into sign language through AI-based avatars. The company has nine permanent staff and another 30 on part-time basis.
-Sinda Matiko