At MTN Pulse, we celebrate and honor Pulsers in the world that are struggling to make it a better place. That’s why we labour to reach out to them, to use their stories as motivating factors for fellow Pulsers and to shine a light on their missions.

Ivan Karugaba, is one such Pulser that may not be new to some of you. Our reporter caught up with him and they had a fruitful engagement. Scroll through!

MTN Pulse: Tell us about yourself and your innovation?

My name is Karugaba Ivan Junior, a product design and manufacturing engineer, Founder and CEO of Microfuse Computer Technologies Ltd – a company that specializes in consumer electronics design and manufacturing.

As a company, we have our first product the Microfuse Stick Computer, a device that can be plugged into a TV, Monitor, and Projector for work or entertainment.

MTN Pulse: Complicated! Hahaha, go slowly! How does that work?

The Microfuse Computer just like a Chromecast or Amazon Fire Sticks, is a device that can be plugged into a TV, monitor, projector for work or entertainment. A powerful yet miniaturized Computer/IPTV streamer.

It can be used as a computer, content streamer and a storage device. The aim is to make customers be more comfortable going for business meetings while carrying less baggage, plug into the projector, and ready to present. Plug into a display and access Word processing, PowerPoint, spreadsheet, database, browser software.

It is available in three colors, has amazing performance and can boot up a PC in under 4 seconds.

MTN Pulse: Okay! What’s your story then? How did you start?

We (together with my colleagues) started research in embedded systems design in 2015 and later in 2016, we specialized in consumer electronics design.

We have been designing, developing and testing several prototypes of our device since then.

What inspired me was the dire lack of computers in homes and business in the country yet in the present day and age, computers are essential in every aspect of life.

MTN Pulse: What good things have you derived out of the innovation thus far?

In summary, our traction as a company has been;
▪ Filed for utility model with the Uganda Registration Services Bureau (URSB) in June 2017.
▪ Won intellectual property prize in 2017 with URSB.
▪ In-house product testing ( 5 samples), Sept 2019-Oct 2020
▪ Use-case demos to focus groups (students, lecturers, homesteads)
▪ Product launch on December 4th 2020
▪ 62 committed pre-orders worth $6200
▪ Pilot study with Aflonet Solutions Ltd from December 15th 2020

However, we also intend to achieve the following in the near future if we work closely with all the players in our business model.
▪ Creation of over 5000 employment opportunities by 2026 that reduces poverty levels (engineers, product resellers, repair technicians)
▪ Increase quality and equality of education in schools by providing educational material on our devices and promoting remote learning
▪ Improve on the efficiency of work by encouraging use of ICT in work
▪ Spearhead the birth of the consumer electronics manufacturing industry in the region by continuing with our apprenticeship program we started in 2017 nurturing young engineers in the field
▪ Improve import substitution of consumer electronics by carrying out local production at affordable prices
▪ Working closely with Processor chip manufactures and industry experts to acquire certification of integrating some chips into our devices and eventually develop our own chips locally

MTN Pulse: We understand the journey is never easy. What challenges have you faced in operation?

This is a new field of skills and knowledge in the region, so investors and organizations understanding exactly what we are doing and intend to become has been a challenge.

In addition to that, the following are some few challenges that we hope to circumvent moving forward;
a) Getting a big ISP with good network coverage to work with us from the grass roots.
b) Getting the required government support has been a challenge but in December 2020 we were able to start a collaboration with the Uganda Industrial Research Institute.
c) Most production means are currently not locally available so we have to source from Asia to get the quality of products we require.

MTN Pulse: What advice do you have for young people hoping to make ends meet in your line of work (innovation) and in life?

All I can say is that you have to believe in yourself, be patient and persistently carry on with the small incremental steps because it is those steps that amount to achieving your dreams.
Not forgetting to always look out for a good team to work with one which you can easily sell your vision and mission as a startup because at the start you work under lack of sufficient funding and have to prioritize on growth but it eventually works out but always have faith and put God in everything you do.

For more light on what Karugaba and his team are up to, load up MTN Pulse data bundles at *157# and link with them on
www.microfusetechnologies.com or on Facebook at Microfuseug.