TORONTO, Nov. 20, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Clear Blue Technologies International Inc. (“Clear Blue”) (TSXV:CBLU) has been selected as the power service provider for BRCK, a Kenyan technology provider working to connect frontier markets to the internet. Clear Blue will provide BRCK with its Smart Off-Grid technology and service for a multi-year rollout of thousands of WiFi hotspots across Africa, set to begin in 2019 and running through 2024.
The alliance with BRCK adds to a wide variety of similar strategic partnerships with innovative, visionary organizations and investors. BRCK’s investors include renowned entrepreneurs Jim Sorensen and Steve Case. It was recently named as one of Time magazine’s 50 Genius Companies.
Both BRCK and Clear Blue are also part of the Telecom Infra Project, founded by Facebook, Intel, Nokia, SK Telecom, and Deutsche Telekom. In all, Clear Blue’s technology and services are bringing off-grid power through more than 500 projects in communities around the world and are being sold into an array of high-growth market segments, from telecom to Smart Cities, that represent an estimated addressable market totaling $38 billion1 (USD) in 2023. In Q2 2018, the company saw a 192% increase in trailing four quarter revenues, compared to Q2 2017.
“In the next decade, Africa will deliver the next billion Internet users2,” said Miriam Tuerk, CEO and co-founder of Clear Blue. “BRCK’s innovative business and technology model, Moja, provides a compelling value proposition to both the users and the providers of services via the Internet. We are pleased to be providing the reliable, clean, low-cost power and management service that is necessary for Moja WiFi hotspots to be both functional and economically viable.”
In 2018, Clear Blue supplied its Smart Off-Grid technology to power WiFi hotspots at 10 sites in Kenya. The success of these installations led to Clear Blue’s selection by BRCK for the large rollout, which will begin with additional sites planned in 2019. This will result in an estimated $1 million (CAD) in revenue for Clear Blue in 2019, with order volumes set to grow in each follow-on year.
Clear Blue’s Smart Off-Grid technology provides a low cost, highly reliable off-grid power solution, with automated remote management and control, predictive weather forecasting, and the ability to optimize systems remotely. Its extensive troubleshooting capabilities facilitate quick resolution of any issues, keeping systems running with unmatched reliability and long-lasting performance, while at the same time reducing installation and maintenance costs by up to 80 percent. Using Smart Off-Grid, Clear Blue will manage, monitor, and control the systems remotely from its service center.
“By 2017, smartphone adoption in emerging markets had grown to 42%3 of the populations but many of these do not have a smart phone contract4, meaning the majority of citizens rely heavily on WiFi. Connectivity is too expensive for the average African to afford, which is why BRCK has developed its free to consumer Moja platform,” added Reg Orton, CTO of BRCK. “Powering these hotspots will be crucial to making this a reality, and Clear Blue has demonstrated that they have the best solution in the marketplace, both in terms of cost and reliability. We look forward to our continued collaboration with Clear Blue as our partner.”
About Clear Blue Technologies Inc.
Clear Blue Technologies, the Smart Off-Grid™ company, was founded on a vision of delivering clean, managed, “wireless power” to meet the global need for reliable, low-cost, solar and hybrid power for lighting, telecom, security, Internet of Things devices, and other mission-critical systems. Today Clear Blue has thousands of systems under management across 35 countries, including the U.S. and Canada.
About BRCK
BRCK is a hardware and services tech company based in Nairobi, Kenya. As one of the first companies to pursue ground up design and engineering of consumer electronics in East Africa, it has developed a connectivity device also known as SupaBRCK, which is designed to work in harsh environments where electricity is intermittent. SupaBRCK can support up to 40 devices, and can jump from Ethernet, to WiFi, to 3G/LTE seamlessly. The initial BRCK units started shipping in July of 2014 and by February of 2015, thousands of BRCKs had been sold to 54 countries around the world.
BRCK is a spin-off from the world acclaimed Ushahidi, a Kenyan technology company which builds open source software tools and which has received accolades for the impact that its creative and cutting-edge solutions are having around the world.
Forward-Looking Information and Statements
This press release contains certain "forward-looking information" within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities legislation and may also contain statements that may constitute "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the safe harbor provisions of the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Such forward-looking information and forward-looking statements are not representative of historical facts or information or current condition, but instead represent only the Resulting Issuer’s beliefs regarding future events, plans or objectives, many of which, by their nature, are inherently uncertain and outside of Clear Blue's control. Generally, such forward-looking information or forward-looking statements can be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology such as "plans", "expects" or "does not expect", "is expected", "budget", "scheduled", "estimates", "forecasts", "intends", "anticipates" or "does not anticipate", or "believes", or variations of such words and phrases or may contain statements that certain actions, events or results "may", "could", "would", "might" or "will be taken", "will continue", "will occur" or "will be achieved". The forward-looking information contained herein may include, but is not limited to, information concerning the performance of the parties, and the ability to achieve costs savings, under the contract referenced herein.
By identifying such information and statements in this manner, the Resulting Issuer is alerting the reader that such information and statements are subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause the actual results, level of activity, performance or achievements of the Resulting Issuer to be materially different from those expressed or implied by such information and statements.
An investment in securities of the Resulting Issuer is speculative and subject to several risks including, without limitation, the risks discussed under the heading "Risk Factors" in the Resulting Issuer's listing application dated July 12, 2018. Although the Resulting Issuer has attempted to identify important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in the forward-looking information and forward-looking statements, there may be other factors that cause results not to be as anticipated, estimated or intended.
In connection with the forward-looking information and forward-looking statements contained in this press release, the Resulting Issuer has made certain assumptions. Although the Resulting Issuer believes that the assumptions and factors used in preparing, and the expectations contained in, the forward-looking information and statements are reasonable, undue reliance should not be placed on such information and statements, and no assurance or guarantee can be given that such forward-looking information and statements will prove to be accurate, as actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such information and statements. The forward-looking information and forward-looking statements contained in this press release are made as of the date of this press release, and the Resulting Issuer does not undertake to update any forward-looking information and/or forward-looking statements that are contained or referenced herein, except in accordance with applicable securities laws. All subsequent written and oral forward- looking information and statements attributable to the Resulting Issuer or persons acting on its behalf is expressly qualified in its entirety by this notice.
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Miriam Tuerk
Co-founder, CEO, Clear Blue Technologies International
Investor Relations
Christina Boyd, Clear Blue Technologies International
investors@clearbluetechnologies.com
http://www.clearbluetechnologies.com/en/investors
Media Relations
Becky Nye
Senior Associate
Montieth & Company
bnye@montiethco.com
T: +1 646 864 3517
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1 https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/reports/telecom-tower-power-system-market-2490, https://www.marketsandmarkets.com/PressReleases/smart-pole.asp, and Transparency Market Research
2 https://www.gsma.com/mobileeconomy/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/The-Mobile-Economy-Global-2018.pdf
3 http://www.pewglobal.org/2018/10/09/majorities-in-sub-saharan-africa-own-mobile-phones-but-smartphone-adoption-is-modest/
4 https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/IT.NET.BBND.P2