Andreas Ostrovsky - The Road Less Travelled

Reaching the end of schooling years can be equally as daunting as it can be exciting. For the aspiring social entrepreneur Andreas Ostrovsky, it was no different. After a brief spell in London studying Economics at university, he found he had not given himself the much needed time to think about his future career and life goals. This introspection led him to take a break from the hectic and lively city that is London, departing to Tanzania. What was meant to be a 3-month volunteering escapade for him, ended up being almost a yearlong experience that he holds very dear to his heart.

In Tanzania he found and developed his true passion, an interest in development and enterprise. He worked for an NGO that specialised in starting and growing social enterprises. The incredible impact that was created in these remote communities struck him as the only way to create real value and development, to build a better future for all. Upon his return, his mission was clear – “all I wanted to do was learn as much as possible about anything and everything so that I could build upon all that I learned in Tanzania, and create something good for the world”.

He joined the University of Southampton to study International Relations, and took every single opportunity offered to build his career and personal skillset. With his newfound passion, he tailored his course and work as much as he could to cover the politics and international development of Africa and Latin America. This led him to seek more opportunities outside the academic realm, seeking more hands on experience, and eventually joining the social enterprise society, Enactus.

At Enactus he absorbed invaluable lessons and experiences in doing business for impact, fully immersing himself in the teamwork, leadership, and project management dynamic. He joined international project Right Light – eradicating the use of kerosene as a light source in East African households. He ended up leading the project, and together with other flagship projects of the society, they won the prestigious Enactus World Cup in 2015 in Johannesburg having created social, financial and environmental impact all over the world.

His ambition kept growing, seeing him enrol in the Social Enterprise module to give a professional and academic framework to his newly developed skills. Keeping true to his spirit of grabbing opportunities with both hands, the module opened the doors to several other opportunities within the Social Impact Lab at the University. This allowed him to put his skills and knowledge to use in a completely new environment in India as an ambassador for the Lab and through Spark India 2016, furthering his desire to learn.

Throughout his time at University, his determination to create something of his own never ceased, having developed a piece of research into a fully-fledged business concept. He managed to pull resources and funding from different pockets of the University; departments, pitching competitions, and seed funds; and after graduating took the project to a global platform, Merit360, and presented it at the United Nations General Assembly.

He has now officially cofounded his start-up, Sagar Energy Solutions – transforming off-grid communities in developing countries using renewable energy. Proud of his accomplishments and excited for his new challenge, he says “the only thing stopping you from achieving anything is yourself; get to know yourself and what you want, then work for it. And work really hard. After that take every single opportunity and make the most of it”.