Ushahidi’s BRCK has announced that it has closed a $1.2 million seed round led by Invested Development to solve last-mile connectivity problems with a device that can bring seamless internet connection to the most remote areas of the world.
Omvestments, Urban.us, Cheryl Heller and Gary Scheft of CommonWise LLC, Synergy Growth, and other investors were part of this round.
According to Invested Development’s Founder and Managing Director, Miguel Granier, “Building a hardware company in Africa will have tremendous impact for the region if successful… well beyond the very useful product being developed.” Granier added, “The potential impact and scale of this company made it an easy investment decision. BRCK uses technology to solve problems where there is a significant market gap.”
BRCK is rugged, reliable internet back-up generator which taps into the unique market characteristic of emerging market internet subscribers: 65% of whom access the internet wirelessly. The BRCK allows users to leverage the nearly ubiquitous mobile broadband and turn it into a connection designed for productivity, rather than solely consumption. Beyond wireless connectivity, the BRCK was designed to provide redundancy where there is poor power and internet infrastructure, automatically switching to inbuilt batteries and 3g connectivity when the primary sources fail.
More than just a router, the BRCK is designed to allow users to access the internet in Africa and overcome some of the challenges that are unique to the continent.
Nairobi and across Sub-Saharan Africa, experience power spikes and outages everyday no matter your income level. In Nigeria for example, you can expect up to 300 outages each year for 5-8 hours at a time. Power spikes are even more unpredictable. With the BRCK’s smart charging and management capabilities, internet access is uninterrupted and your devices remain undamaged.
According to the East African Community organization, 90% of schools and 30% of hospitals are off-grid. With the BRCK, teachers, administrators, doctors, and caregivers can mitigate the unreliable connectivity by caching and distributing content to remote locations and setting up reliable WiFi hotspots.
Officially launching today and set to start shipping later this month, BRCK has been tried across several terrains in Africa.