DRC: Prisca Makila Biakong, the engineer who wants to put an end to domestic electrocution

Prisca Makila Biakong is an industrial electronics engineer, the CEO of Kim Engineering, a start-up specializing in electronics, robotics, home automation, artificial intelligence and the Internet of Things. The Congolese co-created in 2021 the ” logette intelligente”, a device that protects against domestic electrocution and damage to household appliances. In 2022, she was ranked in the Forbes 30 Under 30.

In 2021, while studying computer science at the Higher Institute of Applied Techniques (ISTA) in Kinshasa, the Congolese took part in the Fablab, a project run by the Francophone University Agency to favor the professional integration of youth and women through digital technology. It is within the Fablab digital workshop that she created with a friend the “logette intelligente”, an innovation inspired by personal experience, in particular the loss of loved ones due to electrocution. The device is designed to automatically manage the electricity in a building, eliminating contact between electrical wires, thereby reducing the risk of domestic electrocution, damage to household electrical appliances and overheating of cubicles leading to fires. These are common problems in the DRC and Africa in general.

Thanks to her intelligent logette, she won the 2nd prize in the HackMaker competition organized by the Francophone University Agency in 2021 and the BETON RDC Expo prize at the Construction Fair.

Shortly afterwards, she launched Kim Engineering, which specializes in electronic design, robotics, home automation and the Internet of Things (IOT). The start-up aims, in particular, to solve the problems of society through technology. It sells the intelligent logette, allowing automatic and remote management of a building’s electricity via an android application. Thanks to this solution, users can find out the temperature of their cubicle and receive a notification. The start-up also offers electrical and photovoltaic installation services.

In 2022, Prisca Makila represented her country, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) at the Vivatech new technology fair in France. She also took part in the Annual Investment Meeting in Dubai.

In March 2023, she was named “Women of Potential” by the DRC Job Days. At the 4th edition of the DRC Women’s Entrepreneurship Forum, she won the first Level Up by Makutano Prize.

In 2022, she was named by Forbes magazine as one of the 30 young Africans under 30 who are moving the lines in Africa.