Joseph Nguthiru
Joseph Nguthiru is the founder and CEO of HyaPak Ecotech, a Kenyan climate-tech startup transforming invasive water hyacinth into biodegradable seedling bags and other compostable packaging. The idea was born in 2021 when the environmental-engineering student spent hours trapped in a mat of hyacinth on Lake Naivasha and decided to turn the problem into a resource. Working from a small shed at Egerton University, he developed a fiber-pulp process that blends dried hyacinth with natural binders to create sturdy, soil-ready bags that fully degrade within six months while releasing nitrogen into the earth.
Since its 2022 incorporation, HyaPak has removed more than 25 hectares of hyacinth, produced 1.2 million seedling bags, and supplied Kenya’s 15-billion-tree restoration program as well as forestry agencies in Uganda and Tanzania. The company now employs 60 people, including former fishermen hired to harvest the weed, and operates a pilot plant in Nakuru County with capacity for two million bags a month. Grants from the Kenya Climate Innovation Center, the Gates Foundation, and Google’s Circular Economy Fund helped finance a $700,000 scale-up completed in April 2025.
Nguthiru, 27, is an Obama Foundation Africa Leader, a UN Young Champion of the Earth finalist, and a frequent speaker on circular-economy innovation. His 2025 focus includes launching hyacinth-based mulch film and securing Series A funding to replicate HyaPak hubs across Africa’s great lakes.