Edwin Roberts:
Touching 1 billlion lives
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Audio Title: Edwin Roberts: Touching 1 billion lives
Description: Not every entrepreneur finds their “why” on a hospital bed, wondering if they’ll walk or talk again. After a devastating car accident, Edwin was forced to relearn life from the ground up—speech, mobility, and most hauntingly, purpose.
Not every entrepreneur finds their “why” on a hospital bed, wondering if they’ll walk or talk again.
After a devastating car accident, Edwin was forced to relearn life from the ground up; speech, mobility, and most hauntingly, purpose.
“I was tormented for quite a while as to why I was given a second chance,” he admits.
That existential question eventually led to his life’s work: not collecting trophies on corporate walls, but transforming lives on the ground.
But first, the detour every founder knows well: the art of pitching.
“I used to look at pitching through a marketing lens,” Edwin says, “but investors? They wear a clinical, analytical, critical lens.”
After more than 300 pitches, he now teaches what he once had to learn: simplicity sells, and storytelling wins, as long as it’s real.
“Everyone thinks they have a good idea. But what makes your business worth backing?”
The breakthrough came when Edwin stopped selling a dream and started framing the problem with investor precision. “The most enlightening journey I ever had,” he says, “was learning how to pitch.”
Edwin Roberts
Serial entrepreneur & co-founder of TOUCH the unique free to use offline first content platform that gives businesses real data on marketing campaigns.
From Learning to Touching
That shift in clarity spilt over into his startup.
Originally named Touch to Learn, Edwin’s platform was built for one stubborn problem: access to life-changing information in Africa’s most underserved communities.
Mobile data is expensive, broadband is often nonexistent, and yet the appetite for learning has never been higher.
Touch doesn’t create content for its own sake. Instead, it curates, compresses, and distributes it completely offline, using micro-sized videos that cover everything from agriculture to health to finance.
“There’s no shortage of content in the world. The real challenge is access.”
– Edwin Roberts
“Everyone has a phone. Everyone can understand a video,” Edwin says. “You don’t need a classroom—you need content you can share with your neighbour.”
And the results? Wildly inspiring.
Zama-Zamas Meet Regenerative Farming
Take one South African mining community, once overwhelmed by illegal gold mining operations (the infamous zama-zamas). Touch rolled in—not with bulldozers, but with videos on sustainable farming.
“Now, that whole community is growing crops, building pack houses, and using regenerative farming techniques,” Edwin shares. “Kids came out smiling. Everyone had pride. They were working the land.”
All of this? Delivered through a platform you can access even without a signal. The only thing bigger than the tech is the vision: to touch one billion lives.
From Authenticity to Impact
These days, Edwin’s most powerful tool isn’t his tech. It’s his story.
By opening up about his past, from near-death to the loss of his sister, he’s inviting others to do the same. “I would have loved to give her my second chance,” he says. “By being vulnerable, I am being real.”
Authenticity isn’t a buzzword in Edwin’s world; it’s a strategy. It’s how you attract collaborators, not just co-founders. How you build trust, not just traction. “You don’t get ahead by standing on others,” he says.
“No matter how big your bank balance, you don’t build alone.”
– Edwin Roberts
To illustrate the point, he borrows from nautical imagery: “You might be a brilliant captain, but you’re not necessarily the best sailor.” As your ship grows, so does your need for specialists—and your humility.
Final words
So, what Can You Learn from Edwin Roberts?
- Pitch with purpose, not polish. Learn the investor lens. Keep it simple. Answer why now, why you, and why it works.
- Don’t reinvent content—repackage it for access. Touch proves that the world doesn’t need more knowledge. It needs distribution that works in hard-to-reach places.
- Vulnerability isn’t weakness—it’s your brand voice. The more real you are, the more aligned your partnerships will be.
- Collaborate up. Find people who are better than you at something. Then trust them to do it.
- Measure success in lives, not likes. It’s not about the applause—it’s about the impact.
At Fio Media, we love founders who dare to build—and feel—at the same time. Edwin Roberts is that rare kind of entrepreneur: part operator, part philosopher, and part reformed overachiever. He’s not just learning how to pitch. He’s learning how to Touch.
Want to collaborate? Edwin says, “Fio is aligned with my values.”
And if you’re still reading? You probably are too.
Teagan specialises in Copywriting, Public Relations, Social Media Marketing and Blogging. Teagan uncovers the deeper “why” behind every venture. She believes that every person and project has a unique story, and nothing excites her more than transforming these narratives into compelling content that demands to be shared with the world.
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