Mojio

Kenny Hawke brought decades of entrepreneurial experience to Mojio when he joined as CEO in fall 2015, six months after the company's 2012 launch in Vancouver, British Columbia. Having previously founded iGo in his Stanford dorm room in 1993—a universal charging adapter company that went public in 1999 with a peak market cap just under $1 billion—Kenny understood the dynamics of scaling hardware and infrastructure businesses. After iGo's acquisition and subsequent ventures in GPS chips and wireless technology, Kenny was drawn to Mojio by three factors: the market opportunity in connected cars, the intersection of wireless and automotive (two lifelong passions), and the credibility of investors he trusted, particularly Deutsche Telekom and Robert Simon from BDC.

By the time Kenny joined, Mojio had already raised $10 million from Deutsche Telekom, Amazon, and venture capital partners. The company had developed a connected car platform delivered via a small device that plugs into the onboard diagnostic port found under the steering wheel in most vehicles. This hardware-cloud combination allows real-time vehicle connectivity without requiring expensive OEM integration, making it applicable to millions of existing "dumb cars" on the road.

Kenny and the team leveraged the strategic investor relationships, particularly Deutsche Telekom's global carrier network, to secure major contracts. The company landed a rollout contract with Deutsche Telekom in Europe and another with a North American carrier. The revenue model relies on telecom operators subsidizing the device and sharing monthly subscription fees with Mojio, creating a partnership-driven customer acquisition strategy rather than direct consumer sales.

The partnership approach proved highly effective. By combining car and wireless expertise with strong strategic backers, Mojio avoided the capital-intensive challenge of direct consumer distribution. The value proposition resonated: consumers gain vehicle location tracking, teen driver monitoring, diagnostic information that reduces repair shop haggling, and significant insurance discounts. The data component created additional monetization—consumers willing to share driving data receive discounts on insurance, tires, gas, and repairs.

As of late 2015, Mojio operated with under 30 full-time employees split between Vancouver and Palo Alto, actively hiring. While specific unit sales figures remained confidential, Kenny indicated the company was on track to reach millions of installed units within 2-3 years based on visible rollout commitments. The platform positioned itself strategically for the autonomous vehicle era, providing essential data about non-autonomous vehicles' locations and driver behavior patterns that would be valuable to autonomous systems.