Bethwel Kiplimo grew up in Solai, Nakuru County, where books and learning materials were scarce during his childhood.

He sat the Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education (KCSE) exams at Emining Boys High School in 2015, scoring 84 points and an A plain, placing him among the nation’s top performers.

His results attracted the attention of organisations that connect high‑achieving Kenyan students to overseas opportunities, notably the US Embassy’s EducationUSA programme and the Kenya Scholar‑Athlete Project (KenSAP).

Through these programmes, Kiplimo received a full scholarship to Princeton University in 2017, with the Embassy also covering his airfare.

At Princeton he studied Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, served as Head Tutor at the McGraw Centre for Learning, and participated in Engineers Without Borders, designing water systems for Kenyan households.

While at university he founded the Chance Book Project, distributing more than 900 books to over 2,000 Kenyan students, and co‑founded WellPower, a startup delivering solar‑powered water and electricity to off‑grid communities.

After graduating in 2021, Kiplimo returned to Nairobi, joining M‑KOPA as a Credit Analyst, where he assessed financial risk to help low‑income households access solar products and smartphones.

Later that year he moved to the technology sector, securing a role as a Software Engineer II at Microsoft’s headquarters in Redmond, Washington.