HydroIQ, a Kenya-based firm which uses GPS and internet enabled devices plugged into existing water supply systems, homes, business premises and along water distribution network to automatically monitor water use, quality and leakages, has been selected as one of the winners in the “Startup of the Year Africa 2018” contest.
HydroIQ, founded by Bryan Bosire and Victor Shikoli, uses sensors and then sends the data to an online platform in real-time, thereby turning traditional water systems into smart water grids to improve water efficiencies, sanitation and hygiene.
(TOP: Bryan Bosire, CEO and co-founder of HydroLogistics Africa during the Techstars Paris Demo).
According to the company’s bio on the competition’s portal, HydroIQ introduces automation to intelligently monitor, control and effectively manage water thereby reducing wastage and ensuring profitability, healthy and efficient ecosystem in urban areas.
The online platform allows registered users to monitor and receive water bills and make payments via mobile money, eliminating the need for the costly and erroneous physical meter reading in the traditional model. HydroIQ device ensures aggregation of real-time data on water consumption and distribution which through data analytics provides insights for informed decision making.
“The two founders got motivated by the fact that they were both brought up in western Kenya and moved to the city Nairobi more than 8 years ago. One of the bills you have to pay is water and at the end of every month, you receive a water bill which you have to pay despite of the fact that water taps remain dry 2-3 days week. This is not an isolated case case, this is a problem that affects over 3 million residents in Nairobi alone. Yet water accounts for almost 11% of the daily income,” states the HydroIQ bio.
Apart from HydroIQ, the other winner in the contest from Anglophone Africa is PowerStove (based in Nigeria) which generates electricity thereby saving lives through the use of clean cooking stove. PowerStove is an ultra-clean cook stove that burns 70% less biomass, saves lives, generates electricity, improves livelihoods and empowers women while at the same time preserving the environment.
Other winners – all drwan from Francophone Africa Africa – were Ecodome (Morocco), Semoa (Togo), Priyo (South Africa), Graci (Ivory Coast), Project Alpha (Madagascar) and Thea (Cameroun).
Startup of the Year Africa 2018 contest was organised by Startup.Info. The competition attracted about 600 entries from startups drawn from 52 different countries. It recorded more than 12,000 online votes from internet users and reached 41 million people on social media.
The judges of the competition convened on January 24, 2018 to nominate the winners of the various prizes followed by the announcement of the winners of the “Startup of the Year Africa 2018” contest in Casablanca, Morocco on January 25, 2018..
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