South African digital content startup Eduze has secured investment from TED in order to rollout its Wi-Fi-based technology CLOX, which allows users to browse, stream and download digital content to a mobile device with no buffering or data charges.
Founded in 2013, Eduze creates and curates libraries of content, be it educational or entertainment, aimed at the African market, which is free to download when a user is connected to certain free Wi-Fi hotspots in malls, stadiums, taxis and townships.
Further to this, it has developed CLOX, or Cloud in a Box, which allows users to access digital content via mobile with no waiting, no buffering and no data charges. CLOX pilots have been running with Amogaleng Buses, Tshwane University of Technology and Maboneng, and the company is now launching across schools. The TED investment – the first the company has ever made – and partnership is expected to further this.
“Eduze has pioneered something extraordinary. Thanks to its technology, for the first time, entire swaths of the global population will have the ability to connect and explore, to discover and learn. It’s exactly this kind of breakthrough in connectivity we seek in our work to spread ideas to the far corners of the world,” said Deron Triff, TED head of media distribution.
Eduze managing director Charlie Beuthin said the startup was looking forward to an exciting year having secured the funding.
“We share TED’s vision – to provide users a digital experience that is compelling, meaningful and accessible. We aim to offer African content producers an innovative and commercially viable distribution channel,” he said.
“We want to speak to learners in a fresh and inspirational way. It’s about a compelling content offering, provided in a convenient, affordable, fun manner that feeds from a student’s natural curiosity.”
