Jessica O. Matthews

This week’s Women History in IP Spotlight:
Jessica O. Matthews

Jessica O. Matthews enjoys building, testing and inventing.  While a junior in college, she co-created the Soccket, a soccer ball that can take the kinetic energy created from being tossed and kicked around and transform it into a renewable and portable energy source.  To us this may seem like a fun gadget.  But to those living in “light poverty,” with no electricity or constant outages, this technology can be a game-changer.  Matthews went on to start Uncharted Play to expand her product line into energy-producing jump ropes and skateboards.  Instead of remaining a manufacturer of toy and sports products, her company is on a quest to create larger infrastructural solutions to provide cost-efficient energy for the developing world, from sub-Saharan Africa to the Caribbean.  She recently announced a new investment from Disney for an undisclosed amount.  The new capital will enable (her re-branded startup) Uncharted Power to provide not just products but system-wide solutions that address the generation, transmission and storage of power to under-served communities.