Cape Town - In an effort to shed the burden of load shedding, three postgraduate students created a device aimed to narrow the connectivity gap during power cuts.
With the significant increase in mobile data costs, unreliable fibre lines, and unpredictable tower activities, Brian Gadisi, Alan Gie and Thehmbalethu Hadebe established Arion Power, to give those who are working and studying remotely an alternative power source.
Founded in 2020 as part of their Postgraduate Diploma in Entrepreneurship at UCT, the three students wanted to make the most of their experiential learning opportunity while creating a sustainable business that was built by South Africans for South Africans. However, given the circumstances of the pandemic, the journey was not always smooth.
Gadisi said that obstacles included Covid-19 and funding, and the company was built on bake sales hosted at the UCT campus and the assistance of family and friends.
“Covid-19 and the movement constraints at the time were quite a big hindrance as we were in the early stages of our product development. Manufacturing and assembly in person were difficult, getting stock was also a challenge as many suppliers and supply chains were halted.
“Cash flow and start-up capital were major challenges as we had to balance a full-time degree and a full-time manufacturing operation because again, we had to navigate business administration as well as a new business ecosystem in an environment which was rapidly changing to a virtual space,” said Gadisi.
Despite the challenges, Arion Power have grown from manufacturing their devices in a garage in Muizenberg, Cape Town to moving into a full production facility, as well as creating and maintaining six permanent jobs.
The WiBoxes, which is are compact and affordable UPS (uninterrupted power supply) units, are designed to keep you online during power outages and load shedding. The WiBox is permanently plugged into the wall socket and your devices, and there are two supplied leads, one to power your router and the other to power your fibre box if required.
During a power outage, the box will automatically switch from Eskom power to battery power, providing you with an uninterrupted connection.
These high-performing WiBoxes are also used by several major businesses, renowned internet service providers, reputable corporations, and individuals who are working from home.
“The WiBox idea came about during the first return of load shedding in 2019,” said Gie. “I was frustrated that during load shedding it was impossible to access the internet through cellular data, and the products on the market were all unaffordable, with inverters being pretty much the only solution.”
Senior manager at Teneo Online Schools, Chris du Toit said given that the product is locally produced at an affordable price and alleviates stress in an online or working-from-home environment during load shedding, it’s an easy and effective way to manage the current conditions.
“Given that Teneo Education is an online school and all our teachers, staff and students work from the comfort of their own homes, it’s important that we are all able to stay online, and sometimes this is difficult, with load shedding appearing out of the blue.”
“Those of us who have bought the product have had uninterrupted supply of power and internet to our routers, and this makes sure the learning process can still continue for the learners and is not interrupted,” said Du Toit.
With a flicker of light at the end of the tunnel, the Arion Power boys are creating a space for a necessity as the country continues to navigate its way through load shedding.
As the young entrepreneurs continue to work to make sustainable, energy and power solutions accessible to everyone, Hadebe believes that pushing through the difficulties is the best thing to do.
"If you don’t attempt the first step, you’re 100% going to be in the same position. However, if you try success is probable and even if you do fail you will 100% learn valuable lessons,“ said Hadebe.
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