I graduated from Loughborough now my company operates in over 35 countries

Laurence Kemball-Cook lived in Telford, was the Union’s resident Hip-Hop DJ and even managed to graduate with a First in Industrial Design and Technology. 

From his Arthur Street bedroom-workshop to a commercially viable company headquarted in Central London, Pavegen manufacture and develop flooring that converts the weight of your footsteps into renewable electricity and real-time data analytics.

Lighting up Lagos with Akon: Search #makethefuture

Laurence, an award-winning Industrial Design Engineer, founded Pavegen Systems Ltd just six months after he left Lufbra in 2009. The leading clean-tech startup has since partnered with the world’s biggest brands including Shell, the London 2012 Olympics, Coca-Cola, Samsung, JP Morgan and Adidas with over 120 completed installations across the globe.

Pavegen’s most widely publicised project called “The Power of Innovation”, saw them create the world’s first kinetic football-pitch in Rio De Janeiro. Now with four TED talks under his belt, he has made it his mission to shift our perceptions of renewable energy in the smart cities of the future.

However his success has spawned from years of sleepless nights, VCs who told him Pavegen wouldn’t work and breaking every single rule imaginable. For Laurence, the journey of the young disruptive designer was no simple walk in the park.

What was your Lufbra experience like?

“I had a really fun time and wouldn’t have changed a thing. In first and second year me and my friends were always in trouble for playing loud music in halls and throwing house parties until 4am.  My final year was extremely tough, but luckily I lived with five other amazing designers.

“We were so fiercely competitive that we constantly tried to outdo each other to see who could create the best final product. We really pushed each other a lot, and with all the support we got from the Loughborough Design School this helped to launch our careers and get to where we are now. They’re all doing so well, some have gone on to found their own business or are working as head designers for leading companies.”

So when did you have your ‘Eureka’ moment?

“During my placement year at Eon. I was tasked with finding a solution to power street lighting using traditional renewables such as solar and wind, but I failed over and over again. Hanging my head in shame, I was standing at Victoria Tube station while commuters rushed past me. It was that very moment where I thought of harnessing people-power as an untapped energy resource. If people take over 150 million steps in a lifetime, why couldn’t I generate power from their footsteps?”

So under his former alias Lazy DJ, the 2008 “Mixmag W1 DJ of the Year” ditched his decks for drills and built the first Pavegen prototype for his final year project. This was a remarkable feat for the savvy student who also ran his own SU Breakdancing night called HardSkool. The OG of Stuesdays even secured sponsorship from Sony Playstation 2 and Odessa Footwear.

How did you know Pavegen would work?

“When I first displayed my initial Pavegen prototype at the New Designers Fair the media went crazy for the concept. I’d receive 500 calls a week from wannabe investors and international distributors, even though I only had a single prototype. It was at this point I realised this idea had legs and I’ve worked 16 hour days ever since. Now our end goal for Pavegen is to reach the same cost as normal flooring and be deployed in every community around the world.”

Started from the bottom

What’s the best piece of advice you can give an aspiring entrepreneur? 

“Running a business is a lot like jumping off a cliff and learning how to swim on the way down. Entrepreneurs should know no boundaries. Nearly getting arrested was one of the best things that could have happened to my business. I illegally broke into a building site at 2am and installed our tiles with the caption saying ‘celebrating our first installation’. Two weeks later I closed an important deal with one of Europe’s leading retail groups. I also took a Pavegen tile to 10 Downing Street, and just last year David Cameron invited me on his private plane to accompany him as a UK delegate at the Expo Milan.”

Fly like a G6

Do you offer any internships or graduate roles at Pavegen?

“Of course. We are always looking for the right people who will join us on our journey as we scale our technology. Our interns take on great responsibility within the company and play an integral part in the growth of Pavegen. The programme has been running successfully for a number of years now and I fully support the personal development of our placement students.”

Pavegen are currently searching for bright and forward-thinking Industrial Placement students across our Design Engineering, Creative, PR & Marketing departments, to commence in June 2016 at our Central London Headquarters. Please see the careers tab on our website for more details on the roles available: www.pavegen.com

Tweet/ Follow/ Like us: @Pavegen

Follow Laurence on Instagram and Snapchat @LaurenceKC to view his Life in Numbers on the Discover tab.