PDF Text Version: Orange County Business Journal - ChargeAll
Technology - Chris Casacchia - March 31, 2012
Ever lose battery power on your mobile or smart phone during a business meeting, long road trip or night on the town? Newport Beach startup ChargeAll has an answer, and its simple plug-in product is gaining traction in bars, restaurants and hotels across the country. The company is coming off a successful demonstration at the Nightclub & Bar show in Las Vegas, where it sold out of charging stations that allow access for up to 10 mobile devices and other consumer electronics such as the Amazon Kindle and Nintendo DS.
“I’m literally a one-man shop with my mother and brother packaging chargers,” said founder Jeffrey Maganis, who left lucrative trading jobs on Wall Street and at Newport Beach-based Pacific Investment Management Co. to start his own company.
The University of California, Irvine, alum crafted the idea for a universal charging port with friends during a music festival more than three years ago. Today the ports can be found at more than 1,000 locations in the U.S., including the Cheesecake Factory in Fashion Island, Charlie Palmer at South Coast Plaza, The Viper Room in West Hollywood, Long Beach Memorial Medical Center and a slew of Las Vegas hotels.
To spread the word Maganis has given away many of the charging stations and taken to Twitter and other social networking sites to build a following. The company sells a host of ports on its website, ranging from a $20 wall charger to a $120 LED charging station.
As for the user experience, Maganis stressed, “I really like the idea for free cell phone charging.”
Technology - Chris Casacchia - March 31, 2012
Ever lose battery power on your mobile or smart phone during a business meeting, long road trip or night on the town? Newport Beach startup ChargeAll has an answer, and its simple plug-in product is gaining traction in bars, restaurants and hotels across the country. The company is coming off a successful demonstration at the Nightclub & Bar show in Las Vegas, where it sold out of charging stations that allow access for up to 10 mobile devices and other consumer electronics such as the Amazon Kindle and Nintendo DS.
“I’m literally a one-man shop with my mother and brother packaging chargers,” said founder Jeffrey Maganis, who left lucrative trading jobs on Wall Street and at Newport Beach-based Pacific Investment Management Co. to start his own company.
The University of California, Irvine, alum crafted the idea for a universal charging port with friends during a music festival more than three years ago. Today the ports can be found at more than 1,000 locations in the U.S., including the Cheesecake Factory in Fashion Island, Charlie Palmer at South Coast Plaza, The Viper Room in West Hollywood, Long Beach Memorial Medical Center and a slew of Las Vegas hotels.
To spread the word Maganis has given away many of the charging stations and taken to Twitter and other social networking sites to build a following. The company sells a host of ports on its website, ranging from a $20 wall charger to a $120 LED charging station.
As for the user experience, Maganis stressed, “I really like the idea for free cell phone charging.”