Manhattanite Paul King couldn't understand why, in the business capital of the world, he could never find a place to charge his cell phone. So he set out to solve the problem.
China already had charging public kiosks. So King became the exclusive U.S. distributor for two such manufacturers. But soon the Chinese technology became outdated, with slow recharge times and an inability to keep up with new model phones.
So in 2008, King partnered with inventor David Walke. He patented a new product with an LED screen that displays advertisers' messages while charging up everything from cell phones to electronic devices, like tablets and digital cameras.
Backed by angel investors, GoCharge created kiosks that will fully charge a user's phone 30% faster than a normal wall socket for between $2 and $5 per charge. A mobile app tells users where to find the kiosks. There are 300 kiosks in the NYC area. GoCharge plans to expand to five major cities in the coming months.
Venue owners can lease the simplest version kiosk for $99 a month and keep a piece of the revenue, and the kiosks also are being marketed to events producers, with sponsors offering the kiosks to attendees gratis.
With R&D behind them and $2.5 million in investor capital, the company is set to hit $1 million in revenues this year. King said he hopes to reach $3 million to $5 million in 2012, spurred on by the hiring of 3 to 4 more salespeople (bringing the total employee count to 16).
King, the son of Russian immigrants, is optimistic. "U.S. business is not going to crumple," he said. "We just have to create opportunities for ourselves."
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