Success story

Strawberry energy – Energy That Conquers

Company Strawberry energy was among the top seven finalists in the Environment category of the World Technology Award 2013 competition. This award is presented annually by the World Technology Network in association with prominent publications such as TIME Magazine, Fortune and Technology Review.

The company was nominated by the last year’s winners in the Environment category, and finalists are expected to meet the criteria of developing “outstanding innovations which are likely to have significant, lasting influence in the fields of science, technology, arts and design”.

Strawberry Energy is a young Serbian company founded four years ago, which develops innovative technologies for the purpose of increasing availability of renewable energy sources and raising awareness about the advantages of “clean” energy use.

Their most recent product is a transportable solar battery charger, adjusted for the use in areas without electricity network coverage – Strawberry Mini SOS. In addition to greatly facilitating communication in such areas, this charger also has a number of alternative functions – it enables the use of other devices (the ones with low energy consumption rate) and can be used for space lightening, due to the integrated double LED lightening system. The first prototype of this product was donated to a household with no access to electricity.

In addition to this model, Strawberry energy has developed two other devices – Strawberry Tree, the first public solar battery charger for mobile devices which is a multiple award winner, as well as Strawberry Mini, developed as part of the Innovation Fund’s Mini Grants Program.

Apart from their practical utility, Strawberry Mini chargers have an interactive component – built-in touch screen which can be used for reading renewable energy trivia, gaming or solving ecology-related quizzes. This allows for a better user experience while waiting for the devices to be charged.

Due to its size and flexibility, Strawberry Mini is also suitable for the use for outdoor events was used at the “Imex” tourism fair in Frankfurt, as well as at the festival “Das Fest” in the city of Karlsruhe. For this innovative device, the company received INSIDE award at the “Conventa” fair in Ljubljana. The award was presented for the promotion of innovation and good business practice in Southeast Europe.

Strawberry Tree was recently set up in another country in our region. Two solar chargers were installed in the city of Bijeljina, Bosnia and Herzegovina, as part of the cross-border collaboration project between Serbia and Bosnia named “Bijeljina and Bogatic- together towards energy sustainability through increasing energy efficiency and promotion of renewable energy sources”. Strawberry network now consists of 12 Strawberry devices which were used over 300,000 times in total. Prominent news website Mashable included this innovation on a list of 25 technologies every smart city should have.

This year, among 1,600 competitors, Strawberry energy received the Golden Superbrand award as the most innovative brand in Serbia.