Bringing power to the people

Australian startup Okra Solar has taken out the champion prize for the “Hardware Battlefield” at the TechCrunch conference and VC meetup in Shenzhen in November. Okra’s plug-and-play smart grid technology enables rapid electrification for last-mile communities. Using mobile payments, modular grid design and remote monitoring, the firm provides utility companies with a low-cost, data-driven solution to operating solar networks in hard-to-reach places.