This young entrepreneur from South Africa was just 17 when he thought of DryBath, a product that revolutionizes sanitation in impoverished areas. This is what got him named as Time Magazine’s “Top 30 under 30 people that are changing the world” in 2013.
The concept for this product is simple. Quite like hand sanitize for your body, you lather yourself in germ-killing lotion so that you don’t need to shower/bathe. For the 2.5 billion people worldwide who don’t have ready access to clean water, DryBath is a life saver.
Amazingly, this product idea came about when Marishane’s friend was too lazy to take a shower and said “Why doesn’t someone invent something that you can put on your skin and then you don’t have to bathe?”.
Impressively, just within a year after product ideation at the age of 17, Marishane had written a 40-page business plan, applied for a patent, and launched his startup named HeadBody Industries. Upon filing his patent, he also became South Africa’s youngest patent filer. Marishane is currently majoring in Finance and Accounting while holding a Bachelor of Business Science at the University of Cape Town.
Some other notable accomplishments of Marishane is being rated the best student entrepreneur in the world at the Global Champion of the Global Student Entrepreneurs Awards in 2011, and being named one of the 12 brightest young minds in the world by Google in 2011.
This young innovator holds a Bachelor of Business Science, majoring in Finance & Accounting, from the University of Cape Town.
This such a brilliant idea! What stage is the idea in, like has it hit the market yet? It will be interesting to see how well the product will get to the markets that need it, since obviously many of them will be in more rural settings.
This is really amazing! It’s cool to see how one small idea has propelled this young man into such a successful entrepreneurial career. Getting this great experience at such an early age is incredible. It will be interesting to see what he pursues next.
I have been learning lately that sanitation and proper hygiene are actually some of the biggest problems that impoverished countries face. This product really can help to save lives; this must be such a great feeling for Marishane, knowing that he is helping to make such a positive impact on the world.