[PHOTO] First Croatian Smart Benches Placed in Dubai

First smart bench from Croatia placed in Dubai (Photo; Facebook)

Croatian company Include, who developed ‘the world’s best smart street bench’, are continuing their expansion around the world.

On Friday the first ever Steora smart benches were placed in Dubai. The benches were purchased by Dubai Police and soon triggered interest.

“After we placed the first benches in Dubai, which were purchased by Dubai Police via our partner Arabco Smart Technology, it went crazy and at 1 am (Dubai time) we received an urgent order for 5 more benches which we had to deliver today,” Include founder Ivan Mrvoš said, adding that thanks to DHL and Emirates the benches safely arrived in time.

Already more than 350 of Mrvoš’s Steora smart benches have been placed installed in 20 countries on 4 continents and in 5 capital cities – Zagreb, Sarajevo, Prague, Bratislava, and Astana. Recently they sent a shipment of 36 downunder to Australia.

Steora smart bench in Western Australia (Photo: Include.hr)

The Steora smart bench is a solar-powered bench with multiple functionalities, including wireless and USB charging, free wi-fi, ambiental lighting, a cooling system for the seating, and 15 smart sensors.

The benches can be installed anywhere as long as it exposed to some natural light. Over the day all energy goes into a strong battery system which ensures that the bench can work normally even if there is no sun for few days.

The Include team (image: Include)

Mrvoš has been hugely successful since he developed and installed the first smart bench in his hometown of Solin in 2015. In the same year, Ivan and his friend sold and produced 25 benches for 3 countries and made a total revenue of €40.000, and now have expanded into 20 countries around the world, including Germany, Slovakia, Belgium, Denmark, Czech Republic, Sweden, USA, Qatar, and Montenegro.