StreamSpot+

The world is digitally divided and half the population of the planet has never experienced the internet.

Buffalo Grid delivers an innovative connection solution. When our users connect to a StreamSpot+ Hub, they can download and stream carefully curated, regionally relevant education, health, entertainment and sports content free of charge. 

StreamSpot+ is low-cost and highly scalable, allowing us to provide access to digital prosperity for residents in areas with a high population density, low infrastructure and fast-growing smartphone penetration. 

When scaled to India, StreamSpot+ will provide users with high quality educational content, covering topics such as business, banking, farming, healthcare and digital literacy.

This content will provide users the opportunity to learn new skills that can increase their employability or increase the range of services they offer in their own business.

Prior to Covid there were approximately 30million unemployed in India. 

But last year in April alone, 122million Indians lost their jobs, and of those 91million were small traders and labourers.

Because of the pandemic’s impact on low-wage jobs, it is estimated that almost all growth in labour demand will occur in high-wage jobs. Going forward, more than half of displaced low-wage workers may need to shift to occupations in higher wage brackets and require different skills to remain employed.

As of 2019, only 41% of the Indian population was using the internet. (World Bank)

So millions of workers in India need to retrain to equip themselves to work in a digital world but internet access is limited.

Our solution will provide unconnected people with the digital content they require to gain employment in a post-Covid world.

Our users are some of the 3.4 billion people worldwide who are not yet connected to the internet. These customers are concentrated in rural and peri-urban areas around the world. Our users are typically young (18-35 years old), skew slightly male (although this is changing over time), and are smartphone-first individuals. They don't usually own a tv or laptop, and all the digital content they consume is through their phones.

Our target population in India are some of the half a billion people not connected to the internet, many of whom want or need to retrain to increase their earnings.

Since 2018 BuffaloGrid has established a network of portable solar-powered mobile-phone charging stations and portable battery devices, providing underserved energy users in Uttar Pradesh with over 250,000 mobile phone charges. 

This gives BuffaloGrid extensive experience and technology to access hard-to-reach markets.

We have supported companies like WhatsApp by displaying over 9,000 adverts supporting their adoption efforts in rural India, and we have deployment partnerships in place with one of the biggest mobile network operators in India.

We are in talks with multiple local content creators to ensure our content is regionally-relevant and will best equip users with the digital skills required to increase their employability.

BuffaloGrid was started with a mission to remove internet adoption barriers by providing free power to charge mobile devices and digital services to connect the ‘Next Billion’. Our solar-powered StreamSpot+ makes phone charging and digital content available to all. It is laying the foundations for a future where everyone is connected.

Our hubs are preloaded with content (Education, Health, Sports and Entertainment) and deployed in our partner's locations. Just in India, we have around 100K potential locations available.

In our India trials we constantly saw an increase of 50% in revenues of agent shops where Hubs were stationed. BuffaloGrid has made a commitment to deliver at least 50% of our Hubs to women-run businesses, as women reinvest 90% of their income into their family, education, nutrition and community. 

We are the streaming platform of the unconnected. Lower data prices or satellite connectivity or massive infrastructure projects to connect the last mile are not going to get the hundreds of million of Indians that are not yet connected. A low-cost, highly-scalable and sustainable solution is required to bridge the digital divide.

BuffaloGrid is that precise solution. It addresses the key problems of lack of relevant content, affordability, market readiness and lack of digital skills, while supporting gender equality and sustainable development.

We will be providing services to over one hundred million last mile users whose livelihoods will be significantly improved with access to digital content and services that have a direct impact on education, health and local economies.

Daniel Becerra, CEO

• Business Model - Unique collaboration with MNOs allows BuffaloGrid to provide free charging to users. BuffaloGrid can also white-label their solution for MNOs or co-brand.

• Connectivity - BuffaloGrid removes the barriers for the people at the bottom of the economic pyramid to adopt and engage with the internet. BuffaloGrid Hubs uniquely allow its users access to education/ development/ entertainment content, independent of unreliable 3G/4G connections across its deployment regions (Bangladesh, Nigeria, India, Mozambique, Indonesia, Turkey).

• Hardware Ownership - BuffaloGrid retains ownership of all hardware, so can invest in high quality components and have much greater control over EoL to combat eWaste (a major issue with current systems).

• Display - BuffaloGrid Hub is the only solar charger with a screen, allowing BuffaloGrid to display advertising and provide public information to users.

• Village Approach - A village level approach (competitors only provide units to individual households) allows each hub to service/impact up to 1000 users, enabling extensive scalability.

The Hub is BuffaloGrid’s core technology, a digital kiosk based on a powerful applications processor enclosed in a rugged case. A high-level overview of the hardware feature set of the hub includes:

• Quad-core processor

• 7” touch screen

• IP64 rated enclosure

• 10 USB charge ports 

• Li-ion battery pack

• Solar photovoltaic panel

• LTE modem

• Wi-Fi access point

• Bluetooth

• GNSS

• High capacity storage for content

We offer access to digital services that are preloaded in our hubs and made available through wifi. Users can stream/download all the content we make available without any connection to the internet whatsoever. Our hubs need a cellular data connection in order to:

• Report status;

• Report aggregated user data;

• Receive software/configuration updates;

• Download new content.

Our hub is designed to move large files bit by bit and to handle intermittent connections and power outages. Only once all parts of an asset are fully downloaded is it made available to users of the hub. This approach allows us to provide new digital content to users, even in areas where cellular data speeds and reliability would prevent the use of traditional streaming services.

BuffaloGrid hubs are based on an embedded computing platform that supports modern security best-practice features to prevent tampering and prevent data theft from the device. With regards to video content specifically, we have partnered with an established Digital Rights Management (DRM) technology provider so that each of our hubs can act as a full DRM licence server, even when not connected to the internet.

The central mission of the BuffaloGrid solution is to bring reliable power and digital services to unconnected communities.  Our long term outcome is to improve the quality of life for our customers.  We can do this by multiple immediate inputs.

Underserved energy users are provided access to a source of reliable, free, and clean electricity.  By providing charging at local Hubs, users are able to travel significantly less to charge their phones, freeing them to spend the time more productively and make better use of the mobile services available to them.

With a reliable source of power, users can start to take advantage of their device’s capabilities by accessing the digital services available on the hub.  The hub’s digital services will offer high quality educational content, covering topics such as business, banking, farming, healthcare and digital literacy.  By offering these various types of topics to our users, they will be provided with the opportunity to learn new skills that can increase their employability. Alternatively, skilled people are offered the opportunity to upskill in their trade thereby offering the opportunity to improve or increase the range of services they offer in their own business.

Our aims are to promote Quality Education (SDG4) and Decent Work and Economic Growth (SDG8).

BuffaloGrid's users are people at the bottom of the economic pyramid who may have never experienced digital services. BuffaloGrid provides remote villages and displaced populations with free electrical charging, digital services and development content (including healthcare, education and farming information) via solar powered Hubs.

Connecting the next billion will provide significantly improved opportunities for people in developing regions and help create a more socially and economically fair world.

BuffaloGrid intends to become the leading streaming platform for the unconnected, providing development information and entertainment content in frontier markets. BuffaloGrid will be free of fake news and rich in valuable content that will improve the lives of people at the bottom of the economic pyramid. In the future, BuffaloGrid will generate its own content, initially with content to give its users digital skills required for a connected life.

Once its network of Hubs is established, BuffaloGrid will expand its technology to incorporate biometrics to support e-governance (identity, voting etc), banking and other financial offerings (loans, insurance etc).

By year 5 there will be 20,000 hubs deployed, serving 12 million users.

BuffaloGrid's cloud platform will continuously collect granular usage data for data-driven decisions and analysis.

This will show-

• Number of users accessing free power/streaming

• Number of users accessing Premium content

• Quantity of health/education streams/downloads compared to entertainment/sport

We have partnered up with a group of professors / researchers from University College London, Trinity College Dublin and University of Pavia to create an Impact Evaluation of our services. These evaluations will be done for all our deployments.

Initially we plan to identify a representative sample of potential beneficiaries of the interventions and collect baseline data before deployment of our technology. The survey will collect demographics and socio-economic indicators (education, health, employment data) and other outcomes of interest at the individual level. 

We expect the scientific and policy impact of this research project to be substantial. The results of this study will fill gaps in the evidence base and are likely to provide valuable lessons for the design and implementation of programs.

Furthermore, a credible impact evaluation is a global public good and can offer reliable guidance to international organizations, governments, donors, and nongovernment organizations in their ongoing search for effective programs to improve socioeconomic and health outcomes of the most fragile populations.

Risk 1 - Hub’s Wi-Fi fails to achieve reliable network connectivity throughout the chosen area. Our hubs are required to create a powerful Wi-Fi to provide content to multiple users with a large variety of phones. Those phones will have different wi-fi protocols as some of our users use very old phones, therefore our wifi needs to be compatible with a large variety of protocols.

Risk 2 - User Interface cannot meet wide cultural/user challenges, resulting in unintuitive interaction. We are targeting remarkably diverse markets. The Indian Constitution lists 22 languages on top of that there are several dozens of dialects, in Nigeria there are over 525 native languages spoken. Doing a simple English UI will not be good enough to serve the variety of our users.

Risk 3 - Unit fails to meet local safety and electrical emissions directives. We have failed in the past to get all the certification required to import our products which contain Lithium ion batteries, a material that is strictly regulated.

Risk 1 Mitigation - Pre-prototyping in multiple different contextual environments to ensure suitability for any environment. Multiple technology paths investigated.

Risk 2 Mitigation - Detailed cultural research and exhaustive usability testing with users through an agile scrum process to incorporate feedback during the project. Architecture and technology stack selected for optimal performance on all devices.

Risk 3 Mitigation - EU standards are the world's most stringent. Prototype will be tested to the EMC & machinery directive to ensure high quality & safe unit & have CE marking

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CEO Daniel Becerra holds an MA in Industrial Design Engineering from the Royal College of Art and an MSc from Imperial College London and has 10 years experience as an entrepreneur in design and technology. He previously founded an eco-friendly air-conditioning company, Artica Technologies which went on to be acquired by VKR Holdings in a successful exit.

Chief Innovation Officer Chris Hibberd is a research analyst with a master's in physics and a PhD in Engineering from the Centre for Renewable Energy Systems Technology. He has worked in the R&D team of the New York Stock Exchange’s technology division. While working on a sanitation project in Nepal, Chris saw first-hand how the seasonal unreliability of power prevented mobile phone owners from using their devices.

Chief Technology Officer Andrew McCaughan holds a Bachelor of Engineering in Computer Science from Queen's University Belfast. Prior to joining BuffaloGrid, he has been technical leader in developing market-disruptive products for education, healthcare and local government.

Chief Strategy Officer Vanessa Arelle is the Founder & CEO of TZ Systems, a tech company focused on diversity, inclusivity, equality and wellbeing. She worked for 4 years as Head of Cultural Affairs at the Mexican Embassy in the UK.

BuffaloGrid considers all forms of discrimination to be unacceptable in the workplace. It is the company's policy to provide equal opportunities throughout employment, including remuneration, recruitment and the training and promotion of all employees. This means that all applicants and employees will receive equal treatment regardless of race, colour, nationality, ethnic or national origin, sex, mental or physical disability, age, religion, marital or civil partner status, sexual orientation or gender reassignment.  In our recent recruitment rounds, we combated bias by ensuring our job descriptions are gender neutral.  We work closely with our recruitment partners to ensure that 50% of our candidates are female.

Our management team has weekly one-on-one sessions with their team members.  These sessions are safe spaces for employees to speak their mind honestly and openly.  

The BuffaloGrid team is made up of members in Bangladesh, India, Vietnam, Europe and South America with differing cultural backgrounds.  To ensure our employees are satisfied and supported, we offer floating holidays to accommodate any religious preferences they may have.

The company seeks to fulfil this commitment to equal opportunities through the application of policies and procedures which are consistent and equitable and which recognise the expertise and ability of each individual.

BuffaloGrid has developed relationships with Solar Sister (Africa) and Womanity (Africa), who support women’s entrepreneurial and educational activities.

BuffaloGrid are working with Techfugees and UN agencies to provide our service to displaced people in refugee camps worldwide, including Bidi Bidi, Uganda and Kutupalong, Bangladesh.

BuffaloGrid has partnerships with multiple content providers including Sesame Street Workshop, Open University, Nigerian Football League,  Premier League, YouTube and Waterbear.

We have partnerships with Airtel in India and Robi in Bangladesh. They provide us with locations for Hub deployment.

We have 2 Go-To-Market Strategies

1)Commercial: For places like peri-urban and rural Bangladesh or Nigeria. Places with high population density, high mobile penetration,  low infrastructure and a significant part of the population living with little resources-We partner up with Mobile Network Operators (MNOs) who provide us with a list of locations where they have retailer shops selling airtime and SIM cards. They provide us with SIM cards and data plans for our hubs. In return, they can use our services to push digital advertisements and promotions and we provide access to our data dashboard where they can see the performance of our hubs.

2)Funded: For refugee camps and settlements, for governments or NGOs and emergency relief scenarios we provide our service completely for free, including our premium service to all users. The funding received as donation or payment pays for the Hubs and for the “Cloud Service” that monitors them.

Support and exposure provided by winning this award will help BuffaloGrid impact the lives of over 10m people at the bottom of the economic pyramid. Access to phone charging and digital services will level the playing field as the developing world recovers after the COVID-19 pandemic.

Our solution is globally scalable, and access to strategic advice from Solve’s wide range of experts will be invaluable as we enter new territories.

Human Capital - As we expand internationally sourcing the right talent and the right leadership in the different geographies will be a challenge.