After his successful ‘DroneAfrica’ application, with various professional applications, William Elong, in the top 10 of the ranking of young entrepreneurs by Forbes Africa, launched, through his start-up Will & Brothers, a 100% Cameroonian drone. His latest fundraising in early April ensured a promising future for a company that wanted to « inspire the youth. »
« We want to inspire other young people »
William Elong, only 24 years old, was resolutely moving towards the goal. Young manager of the start-up Will & Brothers, which was set up last year, it is specializing in the development of economic intelligence and technological innovation. This week, his start-up managed to raise financing of $ 200,000, or about CFA 124 million for the production of drones « made in Cameroon ». To achieve this concept, the start-up reinforced its workforce, from 4 to 22 people, of several nationalities, spread over two continents.
« Very often, young people launch buzzing ideas and immediately disappear. We want to inspire and motivate other young people by telling them that we have not given up. The end of the tunnel is close and we intend to put our country on the map of drone manufacturers in the world, » said William Elong assuredly, as he returned to Cameroon after an MBA degree in Economic Intelligence in Paris.
« Reducing mapping costs for Africans »
Everything started at the premises of the incubator Activspaces in the economic capital of Cameroon. Will & Brothers took shape. William Elong and his small team spent almost all their days in these premises, where they matured their ideas and defined new horizons. At first, the young boss thought the adventure was « difficult but exciting ». Nevertheless, he was optimistic. His start-up launched the ‘DroneAfrica’ application offering services with drones, to companies and governmental organizations, to reduce mapping costs by more than 50%.
« African countries depend upon some service providers for aerial images. The latter are sold at prices that challenge the imagination, so we believe that drones are a simpler solution to meet this need, and many others, whether security or tourism, » said William Elong.
« Cameroon’s first civilian drone service »
The DroneAfrica application offered « the first civilian drone service » in Cameroon. Concretely, it focused on a drone equipped with a miniaturized camera that could be controlled remotely and capture new images.
Beyond entertainment, DroneAfrica is revolutionizing many things: it “promotes local tourism, low cost mining projects and urban development tracking; more effective coverage of major events such as fairs, cultural events or football tournaments; the collection of images in disaster areas or difficult to access, etc. … » as recalled by the newspaper « Invest in Cameroon », which follows very closely the evolution of the young entrepreneur’s activities.
The famous American magazine Forbes, as for it, ranked William Elong 7th in the top 30 of the most promising young African entrepreneurs in 2016. Thus, with the new project of drone manufacturing « made in Cameroon » which takes the continuation of its striking application, the young Cameroonian confirms his potential.
