ImpactAlpha, July 5 – Consumers discard more than 58 million tons of phones, tech gadgets and other electronic waste each year.
Kenya’s Revivo is working to curb e-waste and support local small businesses with a marketplace for spare electronic parts and refurbished devices. Electronic repair shopkeepers can buy the products through the marketplace on consignment, paying only when the goods are used or sold.
The company has sold an estimated 45,000 products to shops since launching last year.
Revivo raised $635,000 in pre-seed funding from climate-focused impact investor Satgana, Raba Partnership, Village Global, Musha Ventures and angel investors.
Affordable devices
Repair and refurbishment makes pricey smartphones and home solar systems more affordable. Revivo says a new cell phone costs roughly one month’s income for many Kenyans; “a repair costs about 10% of that.”
“By building a strong repair economy we can make the use of these devices more affordable while reducing their negative impact,” said founder Sarah Johnson.
