Bringing power to the people
04 Dec 2019
Australian startup Okra Solar has taken out the champion prize for the
“Hardware Battlefield” at the TechCrunch conference and VC meetup in
Shenzhen in November.
Okra’s plug-and-play smart grid technology enables rapid electrification
for last-mile communities.
Using mobile payments, modular grid design and remote monitoring, the firm
provides utility companies with a low-cost, data-driven solution to
operating solar networks in hard-to-reach places.
The TechCrunch win comes on the back of previous accolades, including Best
IoT startup at the Australian IoT Awards, and the top prize at the global
2019 Booking Booster accelerator program designed to support and nurture
sustainable tourism.
‘It’s something most people don’t know but there are around 1 billion
people in the world who don’t have a reliable source of electricity,’ says
Afnan Hannan, CEO and Co-founder of Okra Solar.
‘Clean sustainable power has major impact on the ability of communities to
develop, educate and prosper, and we are really hoping to change that and
allow greater connectivity for communities throughout Asia but also
elsewhere.
‘The award in Shenzhen is fantastic and helps with publicity but we have
also benefited from contacts and networks we made at the conference, and
particularly the ecosystem Austrade has established around key networks of
entrepreneurs and innovation precincts in Shenzhen,’ he adds.
Truly born-global, Okra Solar has undertaken R&D in Australia,
Cambodia, Austria and Shenzhen, as well as implementing solutions in remote
communities of Indonesia, Cambodia and the Philippines.
For more information on the Shenzhen innovation sector, contact Selina Yuan, Business
Development Manager, Austrade Shenzhen.