# Cycle Phones

World's first phone that gets cheaper and more powerful the longer you own it.

## Elevator pitch
We are making a phone that gets better over time, not worse. We do this by running a virtual Android phone on a super computer, then streaming the screen output to your physical device. Upgrading your phone can be done instantly without physically changing your device.

- Canonical URL: https://wefunder.com/cycle.phones
- Entity ID: wefunder:company:89784
- Last updated: 2026-06-23T05:01:42Z
- Generated at: 2026-06-23T05:36:18Z

## Quick facts
- 📱First-mover advantage: first cloud computed phone for consumers.
- ♻️ Strong environmental mission. Reduces waste and more affordable.
- 🚀 Software demos are outperforming modern phones in early tests.
- ☁️ More efficient and more economical: 5X projected utilization rate with Cycle.
- 🖥️ All-in-one solution will give users the ability to turn their phone into a desktop computer.
- 📈 Large market: $1 Trillion Market is ripe for technology disruption.

## Active fundraises
- wefunder:fundraise:46919: 4(a)(6) successful (USD)
- wefunder:fundraise:46920: 4(a)(6) successful (USD)

## Story
We're making the world's first phone that gets faster, cheaper, and more powerful over time.The ProblemEvery year, millions of phones, tablets, and computers are thrown into the landfill. When it comes to cellphones, today's modern devices are designed to be disposable. Most people don't want to break the bank upgrading their phone, they're rather forced to when their old device gets too slow, the battery doesn't last like it used to, or it gets physically damaged. So how could a Cycle phone help fix this?Let the Cloud do the workInstead of using the tiny processor in your phone to do all the computations, we use a dedicated server to run your phone. This means that as we upgrade our servers, your phone will get access to more power at a cheaper cost, making it get faster over time, instead of slower.The average phone is replaced every 2-3 years, but with a phone that has a replaceable battery, replaceable screen, and gets more powerful over time, we have a target lifetime for Cycle devices of 5-10 years.See our Technology in ActionTo display how the revolutionary aspect of our technology is in the software we’ve developed, we’ve put it up against modern phones in some speed tests to show that performance is largely independent of hardware limitations. Cycle is running Android on an $80 AliBaba phone on the right side, and the Samsung Galaxy S10 is running Android on the left hand side:Here Cycle is running on a 7 year old Samsung S5 phone on the left hand side, and the iPhone X is on the right hand side:So how does our Software work exactly?Cycle hosts a virtual Android device in the cloud and streams it to your device. Instead of using the tiny processor in your phone to do the computations needed for your apps, we use a dedicated server to run your device. Your inputs are sent from your device to a server and the output is streamed back as video.Utilization RatesCurrently we walk around with a tremendous amount of processing power in our pockets, many modern phones have 8+ GB of RAM and quad core processors pushing 2.5+ Ghz. But it’s amazing how rarely this power is used. Assuming you sleep 8 hours a day, your phone can only really be working about 2/3rds of the time. And that’s only if you were using your device every waking moment. As addicted to our mobile devices as we may be, the average American spends 'only' about 3 hours a day on their phone, or 12.5% of the day. With roughly 13% utilization, the next question is how much of that time is anywhere near peak usage? 8GB is an insane amount of memory, does browsing Instagram really require that kind of horsepower? No, of course not. Even worse regarding utilization rate is modern desktop PC’s, and it’s no wonder they are on the decline these days. Even with extremely cheap hardware prices, the value proposition is diminishing daily for most users. PC ownership is in a decline, and we expect this to become more of a free fall in the next decade or so. By using Cycle, we can give people as much computing power as they need, when they need it, and when they're not using their phone, that power can be used by someone else.There are already options for USB-C to HDMI on most modern phones, and you can easily turn your phone into a PC for the few hours a week you need a big screen and keyboard. Uber figured out the trick to utilization rates years ago; most people don’t really drive their car much. The average American spends about 5% of their time in what is probably the second most expensive asset they own. Ridesharing has gotten that number up to 15% for some drivers. This nets the driver extra money they can use to help pay for their expensive asset, and gives riders the option to go car free. This is more economical and better for the environment. Why make two cars when you only need one?Taking this technology a step further.With Cycle, we’re developing a solution where you can plug your phone into a screen, keyboard, mouse, and voila! You've got a full sized desktop computer. Well, something close to it. Oh, and because you're hooked up to a supercomputer, it's lightning quick.Market PotentialIn 2019, 1.37 billion smartphones were sold. That’s enough to give everyone in the world a phone in just 6 years. At an average of $802 per phone, that totals $1,098,740,000,000. Yes, a trillion dollar market, and climbing fast. If we can offer the same results as a new phone for $4.99 a month, it will be a compelling option for many people. Forcing smartphone manufacturers to produce flagship phones only worth $300 instead of $1200 would decimate their profits. It is very likely that the current manufacturers will only target budget options at developing nations, and will continue profiting off of expensive, localized hardware.Q&A With CEO Adam Macdonald:Changing the CycleLet's say goodbye to planned obsolescence. Tech giants such as Apple and Samsung face lawsuits and fines every year for intentionally retiring old devices to keep you buying new ones. Every 2-3 years, 3.5 billion devices are thrown away, with only 16% of all electronic waste actually being recycled. That means nearly 3 billion phones and tablets go straight to the landfill. The worst part? Most of these devices are still functional. As big of a problem this is, it's easy to understand why this is happening. After all, your phone gets slower over time and the battery life just isn't the same after a couple of years. Our mission is to shift the way we think about devices from something that is disposable, to something that is both less expensive and designed to last. Together we can stop paying thousands of dollars upgrading our phones; it's time to change the Cycle.

## FAQ
1. **Hello, this is an amazing idea. I have a few questions: 1) Can this work with an existing phone as is, or would the phone have to be modified in some way? 2) Will it work on a 4G network or is 5G necessary? 3) Do you plan on making this available in other countries?**
   - Hey John, great questions! 1. Cycle will work on existing phones as long as it runs Android 4.1 or newer, with no mods necessary. We're currently working on an app version of Cycle for existing phones, and we plan to produce our own phones once our software is more stable. 2. Cycle will work on a 4G network, 5G not required. 3. Yes. Our initial pilot will be in the San Francisco area. We plan to expand to other major cities in the US before offering it in other countries.
2. **Will it work with limited data plans? What minimal data plan it needs in order to be useful?**
   - Hi Maksym, It will work with limited data plans. As for how much data you need it depends on how often you use your phone and what you do on it. For example if you're watching videos and playing games on your phone for 5 hours a day that would use much more data than if you were to just listen to music for a couple hours. As for the exact amount of data you'd need, I can't give an exact number. 5GB/month is likely enough for regular use, but that depends on a lot of factors. We are exploring ...
3. **1) What IP protects your technology and who owns it? 2) It sounds like there will be a software and a hardware (e.g., Cycle devices) side of the business. Where will you be making most of the R&D investment going forward? 3) When do you actually anticipate launching the pr...**
   - Hey Kevin, thanks for asking! 1. As of right now, our prototype mainly relies on modified, open-source projects such as TurboVNC for video streaming. The problem with them is that they're designed for developers, and not for commercial use. They're not optimized for mobile devices. We'll need to eventually improve upon them by building our own custom solutions to replace these tools, which we will own the IP for. 2. The funds from this raise will mainly go towards building the software, which...
4. **Thanks for answering my questions. When do you anticipate launching the initial pilot?**
   - Hey again! Optimistically, we're aiming to launch by Q4 of this year, but it will probably be closer to mid Q1 of 2022.
5. **How do you address the iOS market (or do you)?**
   - Hi Scott, We have been working on releasing our first iOS app, Plug In Desktop. It will allow users to turn their phone/tablet into a high-performance desktop computer (refer to 2:30 in the Pitch Video). If you would be interested in getting early access as soon as next week, please join our waitlist: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSeupUoPRle1O2XfqneJfxOupG8bjN14Of-rcPejhf9rY_S_Lw/viewform?usp=sf_link

## Team
- Adam Macdonald (Co-Founder & CEO)
- Ben Jungwirth (Co-Founder & CMO)
- Jacob MacMillan (Co-Founder & CTO)
- Houston Song (Co-Founder & COO)
- Dr. Hai Tran (Technical Advisor)
- Meredith Wong (Administrative Assistant)

## Q&A
- Q: Hi Adam I like the concept. You are the first mover in this direction and quite confident with 5 G coming soon and EU parliament's draft legislation on reducing electronic waste and reusability of devices especially mobile phones (others may follow sooner or later), you are working on future product. However, I have few questions (1) is there any entry barrier for this technology? I mean Google and Apple or manufacturers like Samsung can too come up with this kind of service. So will cycle phone stand the competition? (2) How secure will be my banking transactions in this model? (3) Approximately how many GB data per day will be required to use cycle phone for 5 hours a day use? Regards Ayaz
  - A: Hi Ayaz, I'm glad to hear you see the future potential of this technology. Let me try to address your questions below: 1: There's not really a barrier to entry for this software for companies like Apple, but considering the profit margins Apple makes selling hardware, it would be killing the golden goose for them to do this themselves. It's not so much that they can't do what we're doing, but that it'd make little business sense now. 2: Your experience will have the same level (or better) security than conventional banking websites, the video stream and inputs will be encrypted with 256 bit encryption. 3: We don't have hard data on this yet, our initial mobile app launch will be designed for use at home as a desktop PC replacement, where we assume our users will be on wifi. In a few years time, when we move into the second stage of the master plan, we'll be looking into providing users with unlimited mobile data included with each device, so your networking and computer needs are a simple flat monthly fee.
- Q: I'm curious about the security implications of hosting everyone's phones and all their data on your servers. What exactly do you do to mitigate risk of malware/hacks/etc to people's phones and your servers as data is now replicated somewhere else as well? Also in regards to modularity, the main two things I care about these days are camera and battery. Are these modular as well?
  - A: Hi Tal, thanks for your questions! We are treating security as top priority and will be regularly having our servers audited by 3rd party security firms. With that said, Cycle's main difference over current solutions is that we centralize computational power. Most hackers or bad actors are after your stored data, not your processing power, with perhaps the exception of illicit crypto mining. Centralized data storage has actually been quite common for the past decade with services such as iCloud, Google Drive, etc. To that end, we will be using the same established solutions and security measures as those products. The video stream and inputs from your local device will be encrypted so they cannot be of use if intercepted by a bad actor. Regarding modularity, priority number one is battery replacement as this allows for more convenience (hot swap batteries on the go), and extending the device lifespan significantly. The next will be the screen and cameras. However, most users we have interviewed say today’s new screens and cameras support all of their needs and they will soon be at a point that they are not worth upgrading every few years. The human eye is not improving at nearly the same rate as screen and camera technology, after all, but we would still like to offer these modularities in the future for consumers who need them.
- Q: Any updates for 2022?
  - A: Hi, sorry I didn't receive notifications for questions for some reason. Our update will be posted in a few days. We are dissolving the company and returning the money raised. A detailed update will be posted in a week or so detailing how you can get your money back. Thanks for the patience.
- Q: Hello, what you are doing by combining a cloud and modularity is great for the users and for the environment, so I hope you will succeed. I always felt the phone companies built in hardware and software Achilles heels that make 99% functional phones hard or impossible to use so they can sell new ones more frequently. I wanted to also suggest a modular phone charging port, as they often fail prematurely. Most startups don't make it because of a lack of revenues combined with a lack of funding. How do you plan to overcome these challenges and what can you do to rely more on generating revenues early versus relying heavily on outside funding to keep going?
  - A: Hi Vilem, good question and thanks for your comments. Our plan of attack is a multi-staged approach starting with a simple app that allows users to use our service to turn their phone into a powerful desktop experience with a simple USB dongle. Check out a video of that MVP here: https://youtu.be/k2kwCDxnHJE If you want to read the master plan and 6 stage approach (it's near the end of the document) please check it out here: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1pP2Mkx5I7eH_ijxERVU6jgmy-CJ4xpx22wYvrZBplPw/edit?usp=drivesdk
- Q: For all the investments I've cherry-picked this year. I'm inviting you to pitch your product to my VIP guests at the UTsummit.com, Friday, October 1st, 2021, at the Zermatt Resort in Midway, Utah. Face-to-face, one-on-one with high net worth attendees who will pay $29 extra for access to the deal room at the UTsummit.com. My interest in you ramping up investments means all of our collective value increases dramatically. Besides, you will have a great time and nice lunch and hopefully close some BIG deals. -- Aloha! Charlene 801-299-9105
  - A: Thanks for the opportunity Charlene, I'll text you!
- Q: Hi. What are your revenue goals for the first 5 years once you launch?
  - A: Hi Leonardo! We're planning to acquire 1000 customers in our first year. At $10/month subscription, that would put us at $120k ARR. Our current focus is to improve the stability and usability of the product before expanding our service to other cities and users. Unfortunately, I can't predict when it will be stable enough to shift our focus towards user growth. Here is my conservative estimate: Year 2: 1500 customers, $180k ARR Year 3: I estimate that our product will be stable by this point and we will be expanding to another city in the East Coast such as NYC. 5000 customers, $600k ARR. Year 4: Once our product should be stable with non-critical bugs, we will be aggressively expanding across the US. We would likely begin our entry into hardware at this point. 20,000 customers, $2.4M ARR. Year 5: We plan to launch our own device to around 100 users as a test group. In the meantime, we will continue to acquire new customers and expand into cities that we are not already servicing. 60,000 customers, $7.2M ARR. This is what our plan of attack will look like in the next 5 years. The numbers in this estimate are likely to be inaccurate since we are currently a pre-revenue company, but I hope it gives you a clearer idea on our methodology.
- Q: Hello, this is an amazing idea. I have a few questions: 1) Can this work with an existing phone as is, or would the phone have to be modified in some way? 2) Will it work on a 4G network or is 5G necessary? 3) Do you plan on making this available in other countries?
  - A: Hey John, great questions! 1. Cycle will work on existing phones as long as it runs Android 4.1 or newer, with no mods necessary. We're currently working on an app version of Cycle for existing phones, and we plan to produce our own phones once our software is more stable. 2. Cycle will work on a 4G network, 5G not required. 3. Yes. Our initial pilot will be in the San Francisco area. We plan to expand to other major cities in the US before offering it in other countries.
- Q: So are we not going to have any updates at all?? And when is our investment going to be finalized??
  - A: Hi, sorry I didn't receive notifications for questions for some reason. Our update will be posted in a few days. We are dissolving the company and returning the money raised. A detailed update will be posted in a week or so detailing how you can get your money back. Thanks for the patience.
- Q: So no update at all on our investment??
- Q: Hi Adam, what's going on with the company? Do you have any updates for us?
  - A: Hi, sorry I didn't receive notifications for questions for some reason. Our update will be posted in a few days. We are dissolving the company and returning the money raised. A detailed update will be posted in a week or so detailing how you can get your money back. Thanks for the patience.
- Q: Is this dead?
- Q: Hi Houston, In your answer to Kevin’s question on IP on June 18, 2021, you said you are on open source now and will replace with your own custom solution with your own IP. When is this planned custom solution? How strong will this IP be? Thanks! John Hwung
  - A: Hey John, This is a tough question to answer due to the number of unknown variables at this point, and the complex nature of IP protection. The benefit of using open source is that we're able to get to a prototype product and validate our target market much faster. The process of validation is driven by rapid re-iteration of our product, both on a technical front, as well as marketing which includes figuring out the right messaging for our customers. We will likely be using these open source tools until we near product-market-fit, at which point, we will have the resources to create our own solutions. Unfortunately, I can't give you a deadline on that as there are still too many unknowns. Hope this helps! Houston
- Q: Can I ask your supply chain? I'm concerned about issues such as forced labor in electronics, especially of companies that source from China (for example - https://www.aspi.org.au/report/uyghurs-sale). Sustainability is important but is your company able to ensure that there aren't human rights and labor violations along your supply chain to, and what is your plan for avoiding those complications in the future?
  - A: Good question. It's still several years before we'll be entering the hardware phase of the plan, our focus is primarily software right now. Long term, we will be bringing all manufacturing in house in a vertical process, likely somewhere in North America where there are less ethical concerns than certain other countries that currently create most of our technology today. However, in the short term we may need to do business with some of these companies as it's probably not realistic to raise enough money to jump straight into vertical integration.
- Q: I am very intrigued by the concept and am a fan of anything that ends this craze of buying a new phone every year. Another user mentioned it below that the camera and photo/video quality is the only real reason to drive a purchase to a new device, other than keeping up with the Joneses, and I would agree. I also agree with your premise that we are now reaching diminishing returns as the current capabilities is acceptable for probably over 95% of users. Where I'm struggling is to fully understand the competitive strategy and how this actually solves the problem. If most of the capabilities of a current phone goes unused by the masses who only need basic internet, videos and messaging, what is the need for the additional horsepower offered through your service and why would user pay a monthly fee? Is the real value prop to sell cheap(er) modular phones enabled with this platform vs converting existing use phones over? or is it for the smaller market that actually wants that much computational power without needing a desktop. Thank you,
  - A: Hi Robert, I’m glad to hear you're a fan of the overall mission! Our value prop is simple, it's all about utilization rates. Even if you do use more power than the average phone can provide, Cycle can STILL be more affordable as the average phone utilization rate is about 12.5%. So if you buy a new phone every two years at an average price of $800, but you somehow only had to pay for the portion of the time that you used it, you would only pay about $120, or $60 a year. That's where Cycle comes in. Our solution is not quite THAT affordable, since we have to pay for extra overhead, such as bandwidth, but the core concept remains the same. This works out to be cheaper for pretty much everyone except for perhaps the segment of the population that use their phone for 60-70% of it's lifespan AND use most of the horsepower it has available during that time. However, these numbers will get even more favourable for us once we can hit economies of scale and run potentially thousands of virtual phones on one server, and as smartphone prices continue to climb. A question we often get asked is, “if I buy a new phone today and its lightning fast, the camera is as good as I need, the screen is crystal clear, etc. why would I ever need to buy a new one?” Our answer has been that in the past, when hardware has advanced, software has absorbed the new possibilities. We don’t know what the software of tomorrow will hold, but historically this has been the trend and we don’t want to bet against that. This continual advancement will keep most consumers lining up to get a new phone every few years to avoid falling behind.
- Q: I really like this concept. Could also potentially provide more equitable access to computing power internationally. What competitors are there in this space and why are you confident you can execute successfully?
  - A: Hi Iain, thanks! Absolutely. By bringing down the cost of computing we can allow everyone in the world to own a smartphone, all while reducing the negative impacts on our planet. Our closest technical competitor is Mighty App. However, while they are providing a solution similar to ours, it is only for desktops/laptops. As far as they have stated, they are not interested in the mobile market, which is growing rapidly. Meanwhile, desktop computing is a shrinking market. With that said, we see our biggest competitor being subsidized mobile phone plans. These monthly payments allow many customers to purchase a phone they would not choose to buy outright, and make the cost of phone ownership appear much lower than it really is. We are confident we can execute successfully because other companies have already used technology similar to Cycle's to provide solutions for streaming video games. However, this is an uphill battle; you have a user base who demand extremely low latency and high performance (Google Stadia Pro can stream supported games up to 4K HDR and 60 FPS), coupled with a total addressable market that is a fraction the size of the smartphone market. The average smartphone user requires a less responsive experience, and uses less computational power, which puts Cycle in a unique position, giving us an advantage in executing our mission.