MobileQubes, a New Orleans startup company that has developed portable smartphone charging stations for use in mass transit hubs, airports and hotels, has inked a deal with Amtrak to provide its Qubes to a network that includes some of the busiest train stations in major cities in the Northeast.
It’s a huge win for the nearly three-year-old company, and it was made possible, in part, by the Baton Rouge-based nonprofit venture development organization, Innovation Catalyst, which operates out of the Louisiana Technology Park on Florida Boulevard. The organization was one of several Louisiana venture capital funds that collectively invested $1 million last year to help MobileQubes get to the next level, says company founder and CEO Sean Carrigan.
“Prior to that round of funding we were in pilot mode, proving out the service in the market,” Carrigan says. “That round of funding enabled us to roll out the partnership with Amtrak and a number of other national partnerships.”
Carrigan declines to say how much Innovation Catalyst invested in the company.
MobileQubes are kiosks that dispense portable battery charging packs for a range of mobile devices. Customers rent the pack for a short time and return it to a kiosk, where it is recharged and rented to another customer.
The company has its Qubes in a handful of mass transit hubs, including an Amtrak station in Chicago, as well as the Louis Armstrong International Airport in New Orleans and the Memphis airport. But this is its biggest deal so far—and Carrigan says more are on the way.
“We’re working on several others,” he says.
—Stephanie Riegel
