Nigerian mobile platform Upnepa Nigeria which notifies users whenever electricity is restored or distorted at home, office, community or campus has launched.
The start-up was co-founded in January 2017 by two undergraduate students of The Federal University of Technology, Akure, Salaudeen Taslim and Salaudeen Abdurrahman, who currently are studying Remote Sensing & GIS and Computer Engineering respectively.
Speaking in an interview with Innovation Village on what inspired the innovation, Taslim said, “We were inspired from the day to day problems faced by students whenever they want to make decision which was based on whether or not there is electricity supply where they are heading to.
“The problem of not been able to tell accurately whether or not there is power supply at a location without calling or texting any one brought about the motive to create this solution,” he added.
Interestingly, Upnepa Nigeria does not only notify about the current state of power supply, it also informs users on the last time electricity was supplied.
The mobile platform works using a specially designed smart sensor which is planted across different areas or community (usually one per community).The smart sensors has the ability to detect electricity and send notifications to all subscribed users.
According to Taslim, over 10,000 students use the Upnepa application and it is available on 3 campuses at the moment while there are plans to expand the reach and also make users gain access to these information using USSD codes.
While speaking on the challenges encountered so far, Taslim said, “Getting enough materials to build sensors, branding and fabrication have been challenging.
“Also, reaching out to distant campuses and inadequate finance to scale to meet up request have been uphill tasks.”
While advising upcoming start-ups and entrepreneurs, He said, “Persistence and commitment are key. Always listen to feedbacks and be open to slight adjustments and pivots when needed.
“We should also try to collaborate with one another than trying to be lone rangers. Let’s build solution that would complement or improve current ones and not trying to start all over again what has already been invented,” he added.
Upnepa in the nearest future hopes to expand to several communities and campuses across Nigeria to give Nigerians a smart way of making decisions that rely on power supply availability.
