Nairobi-based digital addressing startup OkHi has now enabled a total of 100,000 deliveries in the Kenyan capital, and plans to scale further with the launch of a new mobile app that allows users to own and share their location to connect with businesses and people.
Founded in April 2014, OkHi is looking to tackle problems with physical addressing in the country with its solution, which provides locations with an “OkHi address” comprising of a web link that points to a GPS tag and photo of the house’s gate.
The startup, which raised US$750,000 in funding from a group of local and international investors in December 2015, said its aim was to assist with the process of deliveries in a country where it takes on average over three phone calls to get a pizza delivered and 1.4 phone calls to get an Uber, even with GPS.
It has established partnerships with brands like ArtCaffe Group, 360 Pizza, Yum Deliveries and Hotpoint, seeing consistent growth from partners and users month-over-month to surpass the 100,000 customer deliveries mark.
“Our goal is for OkHi to be the solution that empowers people to be found, and as a result be included in the new digital economy. OkHi addresses location in a completely new way, allowing people to own, update and customise their location to share with the people and services they want,” said co-founder and chief executive officer (CEO) Timbo Drayson.
OkHi has now launched a new consumer mobile app that allows people to own, customise and share their location with the people and businesses they trust. The free-to-access app for consumers enables them to save multiple locations, including home and work, and share directions to these locations in a hassle-free manner.
“After research and testing, we learned that normal directions continue to be one of the largest constraints. The battle of identifying a location by speed bumps and trees is still commonplace. Access to services hinges on accurate location identification, so we’re now giving users a better way to own their location and control who accesses it,” Drayson said.
On top of its location-based solution, OkHi has also built a custom delivery technology stack to enable businesses to be able to access OkHi more easily within their own infrastructure and integrate seamlessly into their consumer checkout flow. The startup says it can help businesses save up to 20 per cent on delivery costs while significantly improving customer satisfaction and retention.
