Meet Mike Bellot: Co-founder And CEO Of Solobag, A Social Business Venture Helping Students And Professionals With No Access To Electricity

Mike Bellot earned a Bachelor degree in International Political Economy (IPE) and a Masters in International Trade from the University of Tamkang in Taiwan, Mike is the co-founder and CEO of Solobag in Haiti. Mike used to be a member of several prestigious social groups such as the Hult Prize as a student in Taiwan.

His passion for social changes and innovation, led him back to Haiti in the Fall 2017 and brought with him Solobag. “Solobag is a school bag embedded with a solar panel which absorbs sunlight during daytime, After the bag been exposed to the sunlight, the energy is stored in a build in a battery bank and admits eco-friendly and sustainable light at night. The student could use this energy to turn on the light to study and do their homework at night.” The solobag also comes with a USB port that could be used to charge cell phones and other electronic devices with the stored-energy from sunlight.

Why the solobag? As Mike was studying in Taiwan, he learned of his cousin who passed away from a fire in Plateau Central, Haiti. One day, his cousin was studying using candlelight which ended up burning the house to the ground.

As Mike learned of this horrific tragedy, he started brainstorming of ideas to create something better than candlelight that students in distant areas of Haiti can use. He thought of a larger scale of business, but the business must have a social impact. From then, he created a pen with light, “the first creations don’t always work” stated Mike. Hence, the pen didn’t work. But understand that you never give up trying. And You only fail when you stop trying.

Consequently, Mike reconsidered his designs and came up with another product. It took him approximately four months to create the first solobag prototype.

When it was time to go back to Haiti, he returned with a complete product –benefiting students and professionals in a sustainable way. Thus far, Mike has attended more than 36 conferences where he serves as a speaker or a panelist. He speaks on innovation, youth leadership, and social entrepreneurship.

According to the World Economic Forum, social entrepreneurs “pursue poverty alleviation goals with entrepreneurial zeal, business methods and the courage to innovate and overcome traditional practices. A social entrepreneur, similar to a business entrepreneur, builds strong and sustainable organizations, which are either set up as not-for-profits or companies.”

Mike leads a team of six team members where the team ensures marketing and distribution for the solobags. As Solobag was primarily created for those living in remote areas, the team has also established partnerships with a number of organizations to buy and distribute the bags to several far-off localities in Haiti. A solobag has two outlooks. There’s a professional and a student solobag. Nonetheless, everyone can benefit from a solobag at a reasonable price.

As an entrepreneur and economist, Mike currently offers consulting services to embassies in Haiti, NGOs and IGOs in areas such as Asian Markets (one of his disciplines) and works full-time at his social-business venture. His greatest advice to the youth in Haiti is “stop complaining, and take actions”.