BAGOSPHERE - my start-up company

By Zhihan Lee

Engineering Science Programme Graduate 2011


The BagoSphere Family with our first 14 rural youths (back row), three co-founders (front left), two interns from NUS (front middle) and three local teachers. Zhihan is third from left, front row.

Why BagoSphere is a question that I get asked very often. It goes back a long way. I have always been interested in the social side of things, even during pre-university days. When I was an undergraduate, I spent a few weeks at a time living in rural villages of Laos and Thailand. My experience led me to question why current solutions to poverty such as education and charitable aid have either failed, slow to take effect or unsustainable.

During my third year, I went to Stockholm to work for a medical device start-up. There, I organised an event for social entrepreneurs and thought-leaders to share their experiences to college students. I have also been to India, working as an apprentice to social entrepreneurs. I got to breathe and eat with zero-educated rural villagers who live on less than a dollar a day. These barefoot people are the most motivated people I have ever known. They could learn to speak, write and type English all in eight months!

It occurred to me that the fastest way to learn how to change the world is to do it. With a bunch of friends, we made plans for a social enterprise in the Philippines. I had to do an extra two semesters to make up for my time spent in Stockholm. During my fifth year in NUS, we made trips to the Philippines to collect information and find partners. Severe youth unemployment in the country is creating a vicious cycle of poverty. BagoSphere intends to solve this problem with two words - scalability and sustainability.

Whilst some see a great divide between the things I learn in engineering school and what I do now in BagoSphere, I see possibilities in science, social innovation and business all combined to make the world a better place. I plan to spend two years to build BagoSphere. By the end of next year, it should be able to stand on its two feet. Once after that, I may try to pursue research or set up another social enterprise in Singapore, or work for a technology firm.

Once BagoSphere model is proven, we will scale it up. Work is always "in progress" - like they say.

23 September 2011