Human Care
Human-centered service
Every station serves real people: students, families, merchants, commuters, healthcare workers, and entrepreneurs.
About VLA
From one travel observation to a shared charging network for Africa.
VLA Vital Light Access was founded in 2019 to make reliable phone power easier to access in public life. The company combines engineering, local operations, and a human-centered mission.
Origin
The problem was simple: when a phone dies, daily life can stop.
In 2018, Australian engineer and serial entrepreneur James Harrington traveled through Africa and saw how frequent power outages affected families, students, and small business owners. A dead phone could mean losing contact, missing a mobile payment, failing to join an online class, or interrupting a day of work.
In 2019, he founded VLA with engineers and investors who shared an interest in Africa's development. The team did not treat shared power banks as a simple convenience product. They redesigned the model for weak networks, heat, outages, local payments, and public-space operations.
"More than power, VLA keeps people connected."
Milestones
Company history
From Australian product engineering to East African pilots and multi-country deployment, VLA's growth has stayed focused on practical energy access.
2018
The observation that started it
James Harrington saw how outages affected payment, learning, and family communication, shaping the early idea for a shared charging network.
2019
VLA was founded in Australia
The team began developing heat-resistant, dust-aware, anti-theft rental stations and a lightweight app for weak-network environments.
2020
Seed funding and East African pilots
Despite pandemic disruptions, VLA completed early financing and tested public-space charging in universities, startup communities, and learning centers.
2021
Engineering standards matured
Cabinet architecture, battery health checks, offline rental queues, NFC payments, and remote ticketing moved into stable operating versions.
2022
Scaled deployment began
VLA expanded priority deployments across Kenya, Ghana, and South Africa, working with malls, universities, transport hubs, and faith venues.
2023
Series B and regional operations
The company completed Series B financing, kept core R&D capability in Australia, and strengthened regional operations across Nairobi and Johannesburg.
2025
Brand maturity and social impact
VLA served more than 1.5 million users, delivered over 30 million charging sessions, and expanded Power Angel support for schools and low-income communities.
2028
Fifteen-country vision
VLA aims to cover 15 Sub-Saharan African countries and make reliable phone power available to more families, students, and entrepreneurs.
Values
Core values
Reliability
Reliable connection
Products are designed for heat, dust, weak networks, outages, theft risk, and operational continuity.
Local First
Local co-creation
More than 85% of the African team is locally hired, supporting operations with venue and city partners.
Data for Good
Useful energy insight
Anonymized data helps partners understand outage hotspots and public-service gaps.
Local Operations
Stable networks depend on local teams.
A shared charging station is not a one-time hardware sale. It is an operating network. VLA builds local maintenance, replenishment, venue training, and customer support workflows in priority cities.
- Local employees manage site inspection, device maintenance, battery replacement, and merchant training.
- The operations platform tracks inventory, rental heat, fault alerts, and maintenance service levels.
- Data teams provide anonymized insight into energy demand and outage patterns.
Offices
Global offices and regional capabilities
Australia HQ
Australia headquarters
Level 26/1 Bligh St, Sydney NSW 2000, Australia
South Africa HQ
South Africa headquarters
4th Floor, Sandton City Office Towers, 158 5th Street, Sandton, Johannesburg, 2196, South Africa
Africa Operations
Africa operations network
VLA connects East, West, and Southern African markets through operational capabilities in Kenya, Ghana, and South Africa.