Jessica O. Matthews
Founder & CEO of Uncharted Power
Jessica is the Founder & CEO of Uncharted Power, an award-winning renewable power company that specializes in harnessing the energy from motion to create entire ecosystems of power for communities around the world. The company was founded by Jessica when she was only 22 years old. Jessica was invited by President Barack Obama to the White House to represent small companies for the signing of the America Invents Act in 2012. In 2016, she raised what is presently the largest Series A ever raised by a Black female founder in history, and was selected to ring the NASDAQ opening ceremony bell, representing all Forbes 30 Under 30 alumna.
Jessica’s research and career centers around the intersection of disruptive technology, renewable energy, human behavior, and the psychology of self-actualization. A dual citizen of Nigeria & the U.S., Jessica has a degree in Psychology and Economics from Harvard University, an MBA from Harvard Business School, and is listed on over 10 patents and patents pending — including her first invention of the SOCCKET, an energy generating soccer ball, at the age of 19.
Her list of accolades include Fortune’s Most Promising Women Entrepreneurs, Forbes 30 under 30 list, Inc Magazine 30 under 30, and Harvard University Scientist of the Year.
Connect with Jessica on Instagram and Twitter. Follow Uncharted Power on Instagram and Twitter.
What’s a challenge you’ve faced, and how did you get through it?
When I first started my business, I wish I had a better understanding around the idea of Supply Chain when we first started. In general, you need to understand the process of how to make products in order to effectively scale any business. In the beginning, my lack of knowledge in this area made production hard for some of our earlier products. We ran into manufacturing issues that affected the quality earlier versions. However, through investment in this area of knowledge, I am now able to understand the full life cycle for any product my company makes, giving me the right angle to make crucial decisions for my business.
What’s something you’ve done that you’re really proud of?
At Uncharted Power, our mission is to democratize energy access worldwide. We are creating a world where everything that moves around us is a source of clean, convenient, and cost-efficient power.
We use our renewable kinetic energy solutions to power microgrids for communities, large facilities and the Internet of Things. MORE (Motion-based, Off-Grid, Renewable Energy) is Uncharted Power’s proprietary microgeneration system that harnesses energy from motion. MORE can be fully integrated into anything that moves, from speed bumps to floor panels, generating energy from vehicles and people driving and walking over them. When installed, Uncharted Power’s MORE solutions provide a source of clean, consistent, and cost-efficient power for communities, large facilities, and the Internet of Things. The MORE system is designed to be modular and scalable, allowing us to combine different solutions over time to create ecosystems of power. When installed, the MORE system can generate hundreds of kilowatt hours per day that can then be used for microgrid and off-grid electrification, as well as providing savings of up to 20% or more on electricity costs.
What’s something that’s been on your mind this Black History Month?
Diversity is the key to maintaining your business — internally disrupting your business so that you’re not being externally disrupted by other businesses. Uncharted Power has a unique approach to Diversity and Inclusion — we’ve moved our headquarters to Harlem, and a large portion of our engineering staff are women and minorities. In our neighborhood of Harlem, we are exposed to many different types of people, all living their lives in various ways. And it is this natural immersion that we experience each day that helps to influence the development of our company’s core technology.
Uncharted Power is changing the narrative for how companies that build technology in general should look. And that’s a big thing for me. As a woman of color, it’s really important that we think about diversity not as charity, but as something that’s good for business. So knowing that we are setting that example and suggesting an alternative is part of the overall technological revolution, is something that really, really excites me. As Uncharted Power continues this new chapter, I’m excited about taking thoughts and psychological ethos and applying it to technology. I’m excited to see how individuals react to what we’re building and how this affects their thoughts and their lives.
