By Allan Maurer
David Shucavage CEO, Rogo
WILMINGTON, NC – So, you’re a business man enjoying a day off boating on the river, but you want to make sure your new employee is running the shop ok. You pick up your cell phone and dial into your Rogo service and up pops the store on your cell phone screen.
Video monitoring services are not unique, but Rogo CEO David Shucavage tells us his company is different from others in key ways.
First, he says, “It’s easy to use.” Second, it’s less expensive than competing systems.
“We open the market for businesses that don’t have thousands to spend,” says Shucavage.
The Rogo system takes better pictures than video because it’s actually shooting several still photos every second. That means faces are sharp and details clear, unlike the often fuzzy images on store and bank video cams.
Banks and large store chains are not the market for the Rogo system, Shucavage says. Rather, it will appeal to small and mid-sized business people with one or more stores to watch, or people who want to watch elderly relatives, their pets, or their homes.
“It opens a market where competing systems are too difficult or expensive,” Shucavage says. That’s not a small market, however.
“There are 100 million people in the U.S. and ten times that in the world who have something in their home or business they would like to watch,” says Shucavage.
The cams record 24/7 and the images are available on any cell phone, features Shucavage notes are often not available on comparable systems.
But Rogo does not plan to sell the system to consumers and clients. It plans to sell it to cable companies and other providers hungry to fatten their bills by selling additional services.
“Cable, Telcos, ISPs, they’re looking for something else to put on their bills,” Shucavage notes. “They can brand it and use it under their name.”
Those companies would also like the fact that the Rogo system is low bandwidth. “It only uses bandwidth when you request a picture. It gives high value for almost negligible demand on the system.
Other companies such as a camera firm selling it might include it in a box with their own product and “Make more money from shared license fees (for the Rogo system) than off the sale of a camera.”
“Best Buy, Staples, could bundle it up and sell it with a cam,” he suggests.
The company has a pilot project underway with Hargay Inc. in Hilton Head, which has integrated it with their network.
The four employee company has just begun looking for growth capital “From venture capitalists, angel investors or both.” Shucavage points out that the founders have experience with ten previous software startups.
Self-funded by friends and family thus far, Rogo is looking for $2.5 million.
For a video on how the system works see:
