Geoff Rohrsheim joins Smart City Solutions as chairman
An Adelaide start-up with ambitious plans to disrupt the country’s waste industry with its smart bins is looking to raise more than $1 million after appointing a prominent local businessman as chairman of its board.
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Adelaide start-up Smart City Solutions has appointed prominent local businessman Geoff Rohrsheim as chairman as it seeks to raise more than $1 million from investors.
Established in 2017 by local Luke Johnston and Victorians Raymond and Samira Hughes, the company plans to disrupt the country’s waste industry with solar powered smart bins that can monitor and crush waste to cut down on costs and improve the environment.
Backed by a group of South Australian investors, and headquartered in Adelaide, the company has clients in every state across Australia including local councils, shopping centres, sports stadiums, schools and universities.
Mr Rohrsheim, who will become a shareholder of the company, said Australians were becoming increasingly passionate about the need to live more sustainably, and technology was playing an integral role in society’s response to climate change.
“By reducing the number of waste trucks on our roads, Smart City Solutions is minimising the carbon output of cities and public spaces while creating operational savings for councils and public facility managers,” he said.
“The deployment of this technology across multiple locations is increasing rapidly.
“The opportunity to chair a technology organisation that offers the right products to create tangible carbon reductions appeals to me.”
Smart City Solutions’ flagship product is the solar powered Clean Cube smart bin.
Sensors inside the bin monitor how much waste has accumulated and automatically compacts the contents, enabling the Clean Cube to hold up to eight times more waste.
Once the bin is full, cloud-based software provides a notification that collection is required, reducing the frequency of pick ups.
Smart City Solutions is the exclusive Australian distributor for Clean Cubes and also has clients in New Zealand and South Africa.
Funds from the company’s current capital raising will be used to employ more staff, including sales and operational staff across Australia and New Zealand. The company also plans to expand into South East Asia.
Smart City Solutions chief executive Graham Johnston said Mr Rohrsheim’s appointment would support the company’s mission to create “cleaner, greener, smarter and more efficient and sustainable cities”.
“Geoff’s background and strengths in technology will help us to realise the Clean Cube’s full potential across a range of additional smart technologies including interactive advertising, CCTV, monitored wi-fi and 5G small cells.”
Andrew McAdams, who led Adelaide software company PrimeQ through to a $31 million sale to global technology and consulting giant Accenture, is a major shareholder and adviser to Smart City Solutions.
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