Zimbabwean Wi-Fi startup SaiSai wins SWELL Innovation Award

Wi-Fi distribution startup Saisai has been announced as winner of the SWELL Innovation Award at DEMO Africa.

SaiSai will receive an all-expense paid trip to Silicon Valley as part of the SWELL Innovation Tour, which includes the exclusive participation in SWELL’s intensive soft landing programme in California.

The Zimbabwean company provides a bandwidth redistribution wireless mesh network consisting of free access wireless hotspots in public areas, including public transportation.

SaiSai explains that many companies have large periods of time when their internet capacity is not being used to full capacity. The startup’s technology then uses this wasted data to securely feed extra bandwidth to the network giving their users free access to the internet, at no extra cost for these companies.

SWELL founder Mike Chen said, “I am confident that the SWELL Awards in Africa will represent an important element of the Global Startup Engagement platform to accelerate disruption and invoke corporate participation.”

Nigerian mobile card payment system Irofit scooped second place, with the Ghanaian mobile phone survey platform, VOTO Mobile, coming third.

Harry Hare, the Executive Producer of DEMO Africa, notes how important it is for startups like SaiSai to get opportunities like these:

“It is inspiring to see that, now, more attention is being accorded the pursuit of solutions to problems that are uniquely African. The continent has one of the most diverse and talented pool of young people and finally, we are seeing a real intent by authorities to utilize the massive power within these brains to bring positive change, especially through technology.”