ASTANA – Almaty-based Sheberkhana is the company behind ecoSocket, the technology that helps to conserve energy and save money by controlling power usage. The start-up was among the top 10 best Central Asian and South-East European projects from the 500 applications at the Echelon Asia Summit 2015 in Singapore.
“The ecoSocket adapter is able to turn your home into a smart home. You can connect the easy-to-use device to the refrigerator or TV. With the help of your smartphone, you can calculate power consumption and control home appliances,” said company co-founder and CEO Sanzhar Myrzagalym, one of Kazakhstan’s 100 New Faces.
Myrzagalym built the business and team during his college years. After graduation, they received job offers from global firms including Google and Amazon.
“The prototype device is ready for production. After reviewing the market research we decided to focus on the industrial market, as the potential for energy savings in this sphere is much higher than in homes and apartments. More than 50 percent of electricity in the country is used by several large enterprises and the coefficient of efficiency from our device will be much higher,” he said.
“We don’t want our team to be associated with one device. It’s just the beginning. This adapter is a part of a system. We want to work in the field of machine learning. If you store a large amount of data, the computer can understand the relations between some activities and these data. If the activity repeats and it affects some indicators, then it concludes that this activity was caused by other activities and on the basis of the machine learning algorithm, we make analyses and recommendations to users,” he added.
With the help of the smart device, it is possible to conduct an energy audit of the industrial enterprise. The device is directly connected to the Internet of Things.
“Our device is able to analyse the cost of electricity, why consumption is higher or lower and what impacts it. The Energy Efficiency programme 2020 was adopted by providing that all industrial enterprises should undergo an energy audit to confirm that they use energy efficiently to reduce overall consumption throughout the country. This is a smart system that allows us to understand why we consume more or less energy. Due to this, we can save more energy,” he said.
In addition to serving as a partner technology strategist at Microsoft Kazakhstan, Myrzagalym is involved in educational activities.
“When we started to work, we knew that it was necessary to develop the IT sector. We have extensive experience in developing new products and equipment including printers, devices and multimedia tools. The concept of our company can be compared with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Media Lab. We conduct free master classes for students about new technologies and trends. On one hand, we share our knowledge and experience; on the other, we create a like-minded community,” he said.
Myrzagalym shared his impressions of Ruhani Janghyru (Modernisation of Kazakhstan’s Identity) programme.
“This is a great honour for me to be a part of the 100 New Faces project. This is a big responsibility to motivate people into doing good deeds. We are glad that our product is getting more attention and people are interested in collaborating with our team. We met with Astana Hub representatives and plan to apply for residency there. We also intend to launch our crowdfunding campaign so that the local IT product will enter the world market,” he said.
The developer believes the IT sector can boost economic growth.
“It requires fewer expenses and time for development. In addition, we have huge human capital potential. If there’s no progress in 20 years, the next generation will blame us. We should do our best to make a better future,” he said.
