What was the scope of their involvement?
Chimera Prime built us an integrated data platform. The mobile apps collect data from our users and the web apps let us view statistics and analyze that data. Some of the data that we gathered was highly personal, so the web apps serve as a highly secure storage container.
Most of the coding’s been done in Python, but lately, they’ve been incorporating some newer technologies. I’m not entirely sure what those are, as we’ve given them a lot of independence to choose development plans that are both workable for our user base and that can get us the data we need.
For the first part of the project, we’d send a download link to our hired ambassadors and they’d gain access to a native mobile app. They’d use this to survey local people door to door, collecting data about access to basics like electricity, hot water, and toilets, as well as data about whether or not people were on government assistance. As they saved this data, the app would record a GPS reference point with the address of each person surveyed.
Our second mobile app is a GPS locator that we’re preparing to test with the South African health department. This app will allow paramedics to successfully navigate to locations that were previously unreachable due to lack of address. The foundation for the mapping is provided by Google Maps, but we own the coordinates.
We had an app developer and a backend developer, one of whom also served as our project manager. There was also a third developer who occasionally helped out.
How did you come to work with Chimera Prime?
Our initial investor had been working with them on other app development projects and he recommended them. We met with them and their CEO traveled with us to South Africa to assess the full scope of our project and understand the living conditions of the people we’d be trying to reach. After that, we drew up an agreement for the projects we wanted to develop.
How much have you invested with them?
We’ve spent between 1.5–2 million Norwegian Krone ($165,000–$225,000).
What is the status of this engagement?
We began the project in January 2017, and it’s still in progress.
Their team provides meticulous service and delivers updates under tight deadlines despite the challenge of coordinating across three countries. Chimera Prime is flexible and understanding with startups. They've made an emotional commitment to the success of the project.