How’s your phone’s battery doing these days? If it’s anything like the vast majority of Americans’ batteries, chances are it’s not holding a charge quite like it used to. But have no fear: there’s a startup in town that can help.
Sunny Isles Beach-based Chargefon has developed a solution to the “low-battery anxiety” problem vexing a reported 60% of mobile phone users. Chargefon deploys stations with battery packs in high traffic areas such as restaurants, bars, hotels, and airports.
The customer experience could not get much simpler. After scanning Chargefon’s QR code and downloading their app, users are provided with a portable power bank. The service costs $3 for an hour or $5 for the whole day – no security deposit required.
Chargefon does not charge businesses to install stations in their locations. According to Chargefon, the charging stations have proven quite popular in locations like bars, where staff has no time to play the game of ferrying customers’ cellphones to the backroom to juice up.
One key differentiator is that users can return Chargefon battery packs to a different station than they picked the device up from. That is ideal for busy executives on the move, or travelers who could feasibly pick up a Chargefon pack in one place and drop it off a few states away. That said, the company reports that most users will only need to use Chargefon’s device for about an hour to go from 0% to 100%.
At the helm of Chargefon is Vladimir Korobeynik, a serial entrepreneur from Russia. Three years ago, Korobeynik came to Miami. At that time, he was in search of a new business idea, having successfully exited businesses in the IT sector and in the outsourcing of technical workers.
While Korobeynik first landed in Miami as a visitor, he now happily calls South Florida home. “We are proud to say that we are part of the fast-growing Miami Tech movement,” he told Refresh Miami. “It has been great to see Miami’s transformation to a tech hub. We expect more people to come, especially from Silicon Valley.”
Thus far, Korobeynik and team have enjoyed getting involved in the local tech scene. In particular, they were an official partner of last year’s South Beach Wine & Food event. They have also been active in the various bitcoin and NFT events around town.
Currently, Chargefon has mounted 750 machines across 30 counties in 15 states. Approximately 300 of these locations are in Florida. Overall the company serves upwards of 23,000 active users. The Chargefone office in Sunny Isles Beach has 11 employees, on top of a handful of other employees who work remotely.
Korobeynik underscored that the company has already been able to amass a major share of the market thus far. He expects the company to continue on its rapid growth trajectory.
“We are excited to continue attracting new customers and to bring our service to more locations,” said Korobeynik, signaling that expansion to Latin America is in his crosshairs. “Everyone is afraid of being stuck without a phone, so our service is essential.”
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