mPower - mPower

Power Your Ride!

Mobile Charging on the Road

Coming Soon to a Ma3 Near You!

In-Vehicle Mobile Charging

We bring mobile charging into matatus in Kenya, offering easy, convenient mobile charging on the road to every Kenyan taking a matatu.

Easy Mobile Payments

Charging a phone should be cheap and simple. At KES 20/hour, our charging is attractively priced, while allowing the matatu owner to monetize on providing the service. Charging starts automatically upon prepay.ment

On the Back of Every Seat

Just like in airplanes, we equip the back of every seat with a USB charging port. Customers just need a USD cable and a phone to start charging.

Targeting Every Matatu

Our goal is simple: To deploy mPower charging ports in all 180,000 matatus in Kenya, giving people an easy and convenient option to charge, and matatu owners a way to make money from providing a better service.

Our Solution – power to the people!

Beautifully simple!

Our Public Service Vehicle solution can be deployed to a matatu in just hours. Once ready, every commuter in a matatu will have a USB charging port right in front of them, ready to charge their phone while on the road.

Scanning a QR code (USSD option available for feature phone users), the customer prepays an affordable amount via M-Pesa or Airtel Money to activate the USB port for the desired duration, and can start charging immediately.

The fully automated mCommerce solution gives Matatu owners comfortable source of extra income, in addition to an advertising feature and competitive advantage over other PSVs on the same routes.

Are You Our Next Matatu Partner?

Let’s talk about making commuters love YOUR matatus while adding a new revenue stream!

Matatus – the Kenyan Way of Life!

Love them or hate them. Matatus define Nairobi and Kenya. They are the default means of transport for most Kenyans, and a key part of life for most commuters.

With mobile penetration above 100%, the average Kenyan owns more than one mobile phone, and is constantly looking for somewhere to charge this ubiquitous device.

Imagine if, during their daily commute, these consumers could bring a USB cable and charge their phones on the way to or from work. Wishful thinking? No, there’s a name for it: We call it mPowerStation!

With an innovative in-vehicle solution from Norway, mPowerStation is rolling out charging infrastructure to the more than 70,000 buses and matatus in Kenya, so commuters can arrive at their destination with their phones charged.

Using our integrated mCommerce solution, customers pay per minute using mPesa or Airtel money. The revenue is shared between us and the matatu owner.

In Partnership with the Matatu Owners Association

mPower is partnering with the Matatu Owners Association

to bring mobile charging on the road to all Kenyans

Are you an investor looking for the next big emerging-markets venture?

Get in touch and find out more about our expansion plans to some of the world’s most populous markets!

“The matatu industry needs innovators like mPower. Their solution offers a better and more convenient experience for the passengers and creates a new revenue stream for the vehicle owners. It’s a win-win. That’s why we are so happy to partner with them!“

Albert Karakacha
President, Matatu Owners Association

“If there is one Norwegian start-up that will become a success in Africa and the rest of the developing world: mPower. They have a truly needed service, robust high tech solution and a great team to pull things through on the ground“

Marius Andresen (Investing in mPower)
Founder, Bright Products

Background

From Remote Villages to the Big City!

After several years of social entrepreneurship in Sub-Saharan Africa, Are, our Co-Founder and CPO, saw the beauty in the simplicity of a solar-powered mobile charging station for villages. While preparing to scale a rural MSME-driven concept, the nascent team realized that the need for charging mobile phones was not only limited to the countryside.

Bringing in world-class expertise in electrical engineering, we developed a commercially scalable solution that adds a charging port to the back of every seat in a matatu. Offering that dearly needed battery boost to Nairobian commuters, we aim to add a small improvement to the daily lives of millions.

What about the village charger? Still there, and also coming soon to a village near you!