the Creator of THE seva
at scale movement:
#SevaAtScale

JOSH ROY

Milestones:

Known as the "Cassava King" for being awarded the Honorary Global Entrepreneur’s Award, Nigeria, winning Innovative Entrepreneur of the Year category in July 2024, Josh Roy is a British-born, 20-year old entrepreneur, researcher and public speaker of Indian origin based in the US. Recognized for his potential, he received this award from the Global Entrepreneurship Festival in Akure, Nigeria, where the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria Bola A. Tinubu and billionaire businesswoman Mrs. Folorunso Alakija serve as the Chief Patron and Chief Matron respectively. Known for his commitment to "seva" (a Sanskrit word meaning selfless-service) at scale, he dedicates his efforts to reducing unnecessary suffering and generating knowledge through his companies, all from his youth angle.

Triumph:

In February 2024, Josh first gained international recognition by winning The Knowledge Society’s Global Hackathon, beating competitors across 300+ cities for best overall solution for creativity, with him trailblazing his AI-optimized gene-editing solution to combat Cassava Mosaic Disease (CMD) through modified whiteflies, aiming to solve food security for 35 million Nigerians within 11 months. This project, tackling UN SDG-2: Zero Hunger, has been backed by leaders at GSK and earned him a place as one of 20 youth globally in the Villars Institute's ecopreneurship program in Switzerland, with a 2,000 CHF scholarship.

Breakthrough & Recognition:

Mentored by business leaders including Dr. Lee Howell (Executive Director, The Villars Institute; Professor Titulaire, Institute of Management at Geneva University; Vice Chair, Board of Governors of International Baccalaureate), John Spence (Chairman, Karma Group Global; Edward P. Bass Distinguished Visiting Professor of Architectural Design, Yale University), Navid Nathoo (Co-founder, The Knowledge Society), Kuljit Bhamra MBE (CEO, Keda Records), Afraj Gill (Angel Investor; former Partner at On Deck), Kabir Mathur (CEO, Leen) and Manoj Thacker (businessman behind the 'world's most powerful PC' of 2007; former Intel Board Advisor), the young, astute businessman has been an invited speaker at major global events, including London Tech Week 2024, GITEX Global Dubai 2024 The Biggest Tech & Startup Show on the Planet, and XPANSE Abu Dhabi 2024, and Global Entrepreneurship Festival Nigeria, set to address in the presence of over 270,000 attendees by the age of 20.

He is building businesses in machine learning and emerging tech, with four U.S. patents filed and support from GSK, United Nations FAO, and the Villars Institute. Self-educated and on a path to master the business, scaling and operational side of innovation, Josh is working to disrupt the biotechnology and genetic engineering, space exploration and asteroid mining, sustainability, agriculture, AI and education industries.

Early Training, Versatility & Consistent Excellence:

In addition to his entrepreneurial achievements, Josh is an accomplished youth tabla (Indian drum) player, being recognized as the first student in Britain to complete the GCSE Music practical component in tabla. Prior to that, he earned a First Class Diploma at age 12 from Bhavan, the UK’s foremost Indian classical music conservatoire, and was the first to learn and implement the novel Indian drum notation system. Josh is also a former child actor, having performed lead roles in several musicals such as Billy in Billy Elliot at the Embassy Theatre in London, and acted in the Disney film, Patrick the Pug (2018).

Build in Public Updates:

Josh also hosts the Seva at Scale Podcast, which reaches listeners in over 20 countries, sharing insights with thought leaders like Simon Squibb on entrepreneurship and innovation with a global audience, and shares build in public updates weekly on each of his companies, standing at 3,000+ LinkedIn followers. (Rumor has it, he’s still trying to explain cricket to his American friends.)

BOOK JOSH TO SPEAK

Dr. Lee Howell, Executive Director of the Villars Institute; Board Member International Baccalaureate; Former MD of World Economic Forum

“(He has) Massive, massive potential.

His really impressive and very important innovation on food security is one that speaks to not only Nigeria but the entirety of Africa. He tackles to save a staple food source for over half a billion people in this planet, cassava, the third largest source of carbs in the world.

With his focus on preventing an eco-logical transfer of disease and food insecurity, he can make a great impact." - 9th August 2024

"IMAGINE A WORLD WHERE UNDER-PRIVILEDGED YOUTH HAVE THE POWER TO SOLVE GLOBAL PROBLEMS LEVERAGING SCIENCE & EMERGING TECHNOLOGIES."

Josh
Roy

YOUNG INNOVATOR
SOCIAL ENTREPRENEUR

ACTIVIST & AI ETHICIST
TABLA PLAYER

LEARN MORE

CONTACT JOSH

it all started with 'seva'...

"Volunteering with food banks and distributing meals to underprivileged elderly people at young sparked my commitment to tackling food insecurity"

ZERO HUNGER

"Skipping school to attend conferences opened my eyes to technology's potential. Hackathon victories and The Knowledge Society expanded my horizons"

RESEARCH & INNOVATION

"Finding a way to be of service, I decided to create an AI-driven gene editing solution that led to my work at Villars, aiming for a meaningful impact"

VISIONARY PROJECTS