Jeffrey Char

Founder & CEO

2018 - Current

SOGO Energy believes in innovation through collaboration. We serve rural communities with affordable valued-added services powered by clean energy. Our first offering is "irrigation as a service" in Cambodia working with Pteah Baitong. Together we design, build, own and operate solar-powered pumping stations to offer irrigation as a service to smallholder rice farmers in rural Cambodia.

Founder & Director

2023

Founder & Executive Chairman

2017 - 2023

Trende is an online renewable energy retailer selling clean energy to residential customers in Japan. Our goal is to enable and accelerate the widespread adoption of solar power by redefining the energy ecosystem in Japan with our customer-centric business model and innovative P2P platform. Our investors include ITOCHU, Idemitsu, Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (DEWA), Tokyo Century, ZEN-NOH, and Toshiba.

Founder & CEO

2000

Tokyo-based venture studio. I’m passionate about building companies that tackle real-world problems and collaborating with people who are driven, optimistic, and committed to making the world better for everyone.

Director & Investor

2024

ShrimpTech JIRCAS is a venture spun out of the Japan International Research Center for Agricultural Sciences (JIRCAS) to commercialize their research and technology related to land-based closed recirculating aquaculture systems for shrimp.

Visiting Professor

2023

I teach courses on entrepreneurial management at Thailand's top business school.

Director & Investor

2023

Equatorial Power is a decentralized energy infrastructure company that develops and operates renewable energy mini-grids and integrated services like water purification and agro-processing in off-grid areas of East Africa, aiming to stimulate economic development and improve quality of life for local communities.

Chairman of the Board's Nomination, Remuneration and Corporate Governance Committee

2022

Nesma is a privately-owned holding company with corporate headquarters in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. The group operates in 14 different business sectors including construction, telecommunications, IT, water, and renewable energy. In addition to its local operations, Nesma also has significant holdings in UAE, Egypt and Turkey and joint ventures with companies from Europe, Africa and Asia.

Chairman of the Advisory Board

2022

Nesma Renewable Energy is an equity investor and project developer focused on greenfield renewable energy transactions. The company's portfolio includes a 400MW wind project and a 300MW solar project in Saudi Arabia. The company together with Masdar and EDF is currently developing a 1.1GW solar plant in Saudi Arabia.

Adjunct Professor

2020

I teach courses on entrepreneurship, venture finance, marketplaces and network effects at this public business school in Phnom Penh, Cambodia.

Fellow & Mentor

2020

I’m part of the Unreasonable Fellowship. Bringing together a global network of growth-stage ventures, investors, creatives and business leaders, Unreasonable acts as a platform for entrepreneurs tackling pressing global problems. Part global community and part investment firm, Unreasonable operates at the intersection of profit, advanced technologies, and impact. Via its international Fellowship, Unreasonable supports a select portfolio of growth stage entrepreneurs solving key solving pressing social and environmental problems.