William Sachiti

Pasihapaori Chidziva (Born May 1985), known as Pasi William Sachiti, is a Zimbabwean[1] born British serial entrepreneur and inventor.[2] Sachiti, expert in Artificial Intelligence and Robotics is founder and CEO of a driverless-car manufacture company, which is known for being the UK start-up competing with multinational incumbents such as Google and Tesla, Inc.[3][4][5]

William Sachiti
Sachiti on London Live 2017
Born (1985-05-01) 1 May 1985
Harare, Zimbabwe
EducationArtificial Intelligence & Robotics
OccupationEntrepreneur, Inventor
Known forDragons' Den, Kar-go, mycityvenue, Academy of Robotics
Websitewww.mycityvenueescapes.com

Biography

Early life

Sachiti was born in Harare, Zimbabwe, where he grew up before moving to the UK at 17.[6]

Business career

At 19, Sachiti started his first start-up 123-registration, a domain registration business which was acquired year after its inception. Sachiti first reached the public eye after appearing on the BBC investment programme Dragons' Den, where he was seeking 65K for his company Clever Bins.[7] Clever Bins was a solar-powered digital advertising bin which was aimed as an advertising platform for cities. After what was described by the BBC as a slick pitch, but described by Peter Jones as "the biggest load of bull I've ever heard in the Den",[8] Sachiti was unable to raise funding. The company nevertheless continued to trade for three years, during which time it successfully licensed its technology to 6 countries and local governments, before closing in 2013.[9][10][11][12][13]

In 2013, Sachiti founded mycityvenue, a digital concierge and holiday company which grew to approximately 1.6 million users before it was acquired by UK holiday company Secret Escapes.[14][15][16]

In 2015. Sachiti went to Aberystwyth University in Wales, where he studied artificial intelligence and robotics. While at university, he was credited with inventing the world's first artificially intelligent robot librarian, Hugh.[17] The robot was capable of holding a conversation or taking verbal commands and would be able to navigate users to any one of several million books in the library.[18][19][20][21][22]

Also while at university, Sachiti and a team of scientists started working on a way to autonomously deliver packages to try to solve the last mile delivery problem.[23] In 2016, after receiving a £10 000 cheque from Aberystwyth University, Sachiti founded the Academy of Robotics, a vehicle manufacturer company to develop Kar-go. Kar-go is driverless car able to deliver multiple packages by using a combination of advanced robotics and driverless vehicle technology.[24][25][26] Kar-go has been nominated for several awards and has a production facility in Small Dole near Brighton in the UK, thanks to a partnership with specialist automobile producer Pilgrim Motorsports.[27][28][29][30]

In 2018 William appeared on the National Assembly for Wales[31] where he discussed with MP's the state of "Self-driving vehicles - Automation and the Welsh Economy". The appearance was part of the "Welsh Economy, Infrastructure and Skills Committee", which was televised live on the Welsh Senate TV. The BBC later reported[32] that Sachiti warned AM's that self-driving vehicles could threaten traditional cars and buses. The company later reported to have closed a funding round in six hours.[33]

Kar-go self-driving autonomous delivery vehicle on launch pad at Goodwood Festival of Speed
HE Christian Katsande, Hon Minister SB Moyo, William Sachiti and Embassy party

In July 2019, Sachiti launched the Kar-go, hailed as Europe's first street-legal self-driving vehicle, at the Goodwood Festival of Speed.[34] On July 12, Sachiti was visited by foreign dignitaries, the Zimbabwean Minister of Foreign Affairs Minister Sibusiso Moyo together with Ambassador to the UK H.E. Christian Katsande, who inspected to autonomous vehicle in London.

November 2019, Sachiti toured the UK with Kar-go and was pictured demonstrating the vehicle to the UK Transport Secretary Michael Matheson [35][36] at a Glasgow CAV event and then in London with Mayor Sadiq Khan. In late 2019, Sachiti was reported to have traveled to Warsaw, Poland where he gave a lecture to pupils at CXXXVII Liceum Ogólnokształcące z Oddziałami Dwujęzycznymi im Roberta Schumana after which he was awarded the title of Honorary Teacher [37][38]

In February 2020, Sachiti published an 18 page white-paper titled ‘Trees of Knowledge’.[39] The paper, detailed Sachiti's invention to improve access to education using micro-computing, an A.I. assistant and 'clever software' to turn landmarks such as trees growing in the wild Africa into hubs of educational content.[40][41][42][43] The innovation is designed to help play a part in educating some of the 32 million children[44] in Africa who are currently out of education. Sachiti released the invention as an open-source, free-to-develop technology free of patents. The technology allows a tree to broadcast the pre-loaded educational content stored on the micro-computer to allow anyone in the vicinity to have access to the digital store of information using any mobile device.[45] The technology is all then moulded into the landmark or tree using a process called potting to protect it from theft or damage.

November 2020, Sachiti's company Academy of Robotics, was the first company to have a made-to-be-autonomous vehicle approved for use in the United Kingdom by the UK's Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency.[46] Currently the company is listed to be valued at approximately $100 million with Sachiti being the majority shareholder.[47]

Personal life

Sachiti was married in 2009 to his Italian wife. In 2013 he received press attention after his “jealous wife”[48] hired a private investigator to track his movements.[49] The investigator planted a tracking device underneath Sachiti's £40K sports car. After being pulled over, the flashing device under his car was mistaken for a bomb and led to a bomb scare, shutting down a town and the military being called in. No evidence of a bomb or an affair was found but the story became popular and continued to circulate in tabloids.[50][51][52]

Awards and recognition
  • In 2010, Sachiti was nominated for HSBC Start-up stars for his company and innovation Clever Bins[53]
  • In 2013, Sachiti won the Zim Achievers awards in Business Innovation for Clever Bins[54]
  • In 2017, Sachiti was awarded the Aberystwyth InvEnterPrize for Kar-go[55]
  • In 2017, Sachiti was nominated for the Wales Start-up Awards for the most innovative start-up in Wales.[56]
  • In 2017, Sachiti was named one of the top "35 under 35" entrepreneurs in Wales.[57]
  • In 2019, Sachiti was awarded the title of an honorary teacher in Poland[58]
  • In 2020, Sachiti was a finalist in the Mayor of London's London Business Awards 2020 [59]
  • In 2020, Sachiti was a finalist for the Institute of Directors - Director of the year.[60]

References
  1. "Persons with significant control - Companies House Beta". Companies House UK. 25 July 2017.
  2. "This Zimbabwean has built a self-driving car in the UK. And it will be on the streets in 6 months". Techzim. 10 July 2017.
  3. "Firm takes on multinationals with driverless delivery van". Adrian Flux Insurance. 25 June 2017.
  4. Murray-Nag, Beatrice (25 June 2017). "The kar-go self-driving robot delivers straight to your door". Design Boom.
  5. "Driverless Delivery Cars in London". LondonLive. 25 June 2017.
  6. "Pindula". Pindula. 25 June 2017.
  7. "BBC Dragons Den Pitch"BBC Dragons Den Pitch , Broadcast August 2009
  8. https://www.bbc.co.uk/dragonsden/entrepreneurs/williamsachiti.shtml
  9. "Dragons' Den Clever Bins coming to an Oldham street near you - Manchester Evening News". manchestereveningnews.co.uk. Retrieved 18 August 2016.
  10. "Eco-Business.com - Asia Pacific's Sustainable Business Community". eco-business.com. Retrieved 18 August 2016.
  11. "Malé to Utilise Solar Powered 'Clever Bins' | Maldives Travel Lifestyle Experience". maldives.net.mv. Retrieved 18 August 2016.
  12. "Citizen Space Local". web.archive.org. Archived from the original on 8 July 2011. Retrieved 18 August 2016.CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  13. "News". web.archive.org. Archived from the original on 14 March 2012. Retrieved 18 August 2016.CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  14. https://techcrunch.com/2014/07/24/secret-acquisition A Secret Acquisition
  15. Primack, Dan (25 July 2014). "Term Sheet – Friday, July 25". Fortune.
  16. Dunsby, Megan (25 July 2014). "Secret Escapes acquires My City Venue to strengthen events arm". Startups.
  17. "Meet Hugh, the robot librarian - Aberystwyth University". Aber. Retrieved 18 March 2017.
  18. Crump, Eryl (26 February 2016). "Robot librarian at Aberystwyth University to lend a hand to bookworms". Daily Post. Retrieved 18 March 2017.
  19. "Hugh Owen library to introduce robot librarian". 27 February 2016. Retrieved 18 March 2017.
  20. "Hugh, le premier robot bibliothécaire, prendra son poste à la rentrée". Archimag. Retrieved 18 March 2017.
  21. "Library Robot Coming to Welsh University". Retrieved 18 March 2017.
  22. "Robot librarian to stalk Aberystwyth University". Electronics Weekly. 26 February 2016. Retrieved 18 March 2017.
  23. "Car-go delivers £10,000 InvEnterPrize". Aberystwyth University. 30 March 2017.
  24. "Academy of Robotics Surpasses £300,000 Funding Target on Crowdcube For AI Package Delivery Vehicle "Kar-Go"". Crowdfunding Insider. 10 July 2017.
  25. "DRIVERLESS VEHICLE DEVELOPER LAUNCHES CROWDCUBE CAMPAIGN". Insider Media. 30 May 2017.
  26. "Academy of Robotics Surpasses £300,000". Crowdcube. 10 July 2017.
  27. "Academy of Robotics to unveil driverless delivery vehicle". HonestJohn Vans. 10 July 2017.
  28. "Automotive Development SDK | NVIDIA DriveWorks | NVIDIA". NVIDIA. 30 May 2017.
  29. "Kar-Go autonomously delivers packages to your door". RoboticsResearch. 10 July 2017.
  30. "Kar-go the robotic pod can deliver goods direct to your door". CEUTNEWS. 30 May 2017.
  31. "Economy, Infrastructure and Skills Committee - Wednesday, 23 May 2018 09.15". Welsh National Assembly. 23 May 2018.
  32. "Self-driving vehicles could threaten cars and buses, AMs warned - Wednesday, 23 May 2018 09.15". BBC News. 23 May 2018.
  33. "Academy of Robotics Smashes Funding Target". Business Leader Magazine. 13 August 2018.
  34. Reuters, Thomson, Futuristic driverless vehicle offers 'last mile' delivery..., retrieved 2019-07-12
  35. "Scotland 'open for business' in driverless cars". BBC News. 2019-12-30. Retrieved 2020-02-08.
  36. "CAV Scotland 2018 champions connected and autonomous vehicles". Highways Today. 2018-08-07. Retrieved 2020-02-08.
  37. https://www.facebook.com/219999141498172/photos/a.220011501496936/1380743735423701/?type=3&theater
  38. https://www.linkedin.com/posts/william-sachiti_education-secondaryschool-warsaw-activity-6637396716528115712-9F1j
  39. Sachiti, William (2020-01-31). "An Invention Using A.I. to Turn Trees Growing In The Wild Africa Into Digital Educators". Medium. Retrieved 2020-02-08.
  40. "William Sachiti launches "Trees of Knowledge"". StartupBiz Zimbabwe. 2020-02-03. Retrieved 2020-02-08.
  41. Trees of knowledge - William Sachiti Interview, retrieved 2020-02-08
  42. "FEEL GOOD | This Zimbabwean tech entrepreneur's design is turning trees into educational wi-fi hubs". Fin24. 2020-02-01. Retrieved 2020-02-08.
  43. Writer, Staff (2020-01-31). "Zimbabwean entrepreneur invents tech that turns a tree into a WiFi hub". ITWeb. Retrieved 2020-02-08.
  44. "Education in Africa". uis.unesco.org. 2016-11-18. Retrieved 2020-02-08.
  45. Editor (2020-02-01). "Zimbabwean AI expert and entrepreneur William Sachiti invents open-sourced technology to improve access to education in Africa". Business Africa Online. Retrieved 2020-02-08.CS1 maint: extra text: authors list (link)
  46. "Kar-go Delivery Bot approved for use on British roads". Highways Today. 2020-10-29. Retrieved 2021-02-03.
  47. "ACADEMY OF ROBOTICS LIMITED - Overview (free company information from Companies House)". find-and-update.company-information.service.gov.uk. Retrieved 2021-02-03.
  48. "Jealous wife triggers UK bomb scare". New Zimbabwe. 30 May 2017.
  49. "Suspicious wife sparks bomb scare with tracking device under husband's car". Telegraph. Retrieved 18 March 2017.
  50. "Suspicious wife sparks bomb alert by fitting tracking bug to husband's car". Irish news. Retrieved 18 March 2017.
  51. "Fatal Suspicion". MotorTrader. Retrieved 18 March 2017.
  52. "Wife fits GPS tracker to hubby's car. Causes bomb scare". AOL. Retrieved 18 March 2017.
  53. "HSBC Start-Up Stars – Celebrating Entrepreneurs and their Start-Up Success". Retrieved 18 May 2017.
  54. "Full list of Zim Achievers Nominees". Nehanda Radio. Retrieved 18 May 2017.
  55. "delivery concept wins £10,000 prize". Cambrian News. Retrieved 18 May 2017.
  56. "Wales Start-up Awards Finalist". Wales start-up Awards. Retrieved 18 May 2017.
  57. "The 35 Under 35: The top young business and professional men in Wales in 2017". Wales Online. Retrieved 18 May 2017.
  58. "The 35 Under 35: The top young business and professional men in Wales in 2017". Wales Online. Retrieved 18 May 2017.
  59. "One to watch Innovation Award". London Business. Retrieved 18 February 2020.
  60. . London Business of the year London Region https://www.iod.com/events-community/regions/south/doyatitle=Director of the year London Region Check |url= value (help). Retrieved 13 September 2020. Missing or empty |title= (help)
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