Mobilized Construction

Mobilized Construction operates as a technology firm focused on infrastructure maintenance, specifically targeting the rehabilitation of rural roads in Africa.

Founded around 2015 by a team including Kevin Lee, Gregory Islas, and Jens Egholm, the company was established to address the critical issue that less than a third of Africans have access to an all-season road, which isolates rural communities, particularly after heavy rains. This isolation impedes access to essential services like healthcare and education, increases the cost of agricultural inputs, and can lead to crop spoilage due to increased travel times.

The company's business model centers on a proprietary software platform that facilitates a marketplace for micro-contracts, engaging local community members in manual road repair. This approach circumvents the high costs and logistical challenges associated with heavy machinery. The process begins with data collection, where the software uses a smartphone's GPS and accelerometer to map road conditions and identify areas needing repair. This data informs the Desktop Road Assessment Management tool, which allows transportation planners to prioritize projects based on data rather than intuition, creating more equitable and inclusive decision-making. Subsequently, the platform creates and assigns micro-contracts to local individuals and supervisors via a mobile application. These individuals then manually fix the roads. Upon completion, the road quality is re-measured to certify the work, and payments are transferred to the laborers via mobile money services.

This system serves clients such as local governments and international development agencies by providing a significantly cheaper and more flexible alternative to conventional road construction. For example, a pilot project in Luwero, Uganda, cost $1,500 per kilometer, which was noted to be a fraction of typical construction costs. Revenue is generated by licensing the software platform to these governmental and international bodies, charging a project implementation fee and an annual subscription. By creating local employment, formalizing unskilled labor, and building climate-resilient roads, the company aims to empower communities and improve their economic prospects.

Keywords: road maintenance, infrastructure technology, micro-contracting, rural development, Africa infrastructure, mobile-based solutions, public works software, community empowerment, sustainable infrastructure, road condition monitoring, asset management, local government solutions, labor-based construction, climate-resilient roads, development technology, civic tech, mobile payments, GPS data collection, project management software, PPP for infrastructure