IoT: The Next Big Thing
August 2018
It is quite evident that the Internet of Things (IoT) is developing and growing at an ascending rate. RFID sensors, Wearable gadgets, Vehicles and software are evolving past the rudimentary functions and the network is accelerating to include additional advancements every day.
One can likely say that the number of connected gadgets at their home is more than what it used to be in the last year. This rapid growth is likely to hasten in the years to come including the place of our business and public surroundings.
The future of IoT is on the rise. According to IT Pro, approximately 3.6 billion gadgets are connected to the Internet which are used for our everyday tasks in the year 2018 alone. One can safely say that the total number of devices connected to the Internet is larger than that. This means more traffic & more data are on an already jammed connected internet. In the following year, there will be a harder push for 5G connectivity which will add a lane to the already jammed and congested web highway to handgrip the increase in devices.
With keeping this in mind, Insights Success Magazine has shortlisted, The 10 Most Innovative IoT Startups to Watch, 2018 who are raising the bar with their innovative IoT solutions.
Read more: https://bit.ly/2AIZAJX
www.insightsuccess.com
Top 10 African Internet of Things startups to watch
7 December 2017
IoT is growing and will continue to grow beyond 2017. IHS Technology predicts that there will be 75 billion connected devices by 2020.
IoT is about connecting exponentially more devices to the internet. This trend promises to make our global society more efficient and productive than we ever imagined possible.
The Internet of Things is disrupting every aspect of business and industry. It is transforming the way industries function and interact with the world. IoT is also impacting the way people live, work, entertain, and travel. According to Gartner, there will be 8.4 billion connected things in use worldwide this year. On the back of this trend, a number of startups have come up with innovative IoT solutions to our most difficult challenges in energy, safety and security, healthcare and food security. Here’s a list of 10 African IoT startups to watch.
1. UjuziKilimo
Kenya-based UjuziKilimo has developed a soil analysis platform that measures soil characteristics for assessing quality in farming use cases. Hardware elements of the solution include an electronic sensor placed in the ground, which alerts and gives farmers guidance, via SMS, on real-time soil conditions. The startup uses Big Data analytics to provide useful insights on farming trends and productivity based on the accurate data that is generated. UjuziKilimo uses the data to further customise farmer recommendations and make the advice more actionable.
2. Vula Telematix
Vula Telematix has partnered with San Diego-based Ingenu to develop “The Machine Network SA,” a network providing IoT and M2M solutions with further reach, a global range, and longer lasting battery life than any existing network. The company’s Random Phase Multiple Access (RPMA) technology connects machines wirelessly for lowering development costs and enabling a faster time-to-market. Vula Telematix is enabling the Internet of Things in South Africa.
IoT.nxt is an innovator in the Internet of Things sector. IoT.nxt offers technology agnostic solutions which enable their customers to deploy best of breed technologies but at the same time, have interoperability and interconnectivity between deployed system. The platform allows businesses to leverage off existing investments in systems and devices already installed – no rip and replace.
SA IoT start-up could see global expansion into the US
IoT.nxt CEO Nico Steyn and its chairperson, Wayne Fitzjohn, recently visited the US to introduce the IoT.nxt solution to possible partners.
Fitzjohn told Fin24 that the visit was a success and the Pretoria-based firm could soon partner with tech companies for Internet of Things (IoT) solutions.
IoT.nxt uses its secure field gateway device dubbed the “Raptor” which is interoperable with various input and output devices on the edge of networks.
A practical application of the tech could connect a company’s air conditioners, lifts, alarm systems and conveyor belts to the internet of things.
Subsequently, a company can then react faster when incidents occur and possibly save on costs.
Fitzjohn told Fin24 that the company was strategically planning its next move to deal with providing unique solutions to companies abroad.
Full story: http://bit.ly/2zmTv3V
www.fin24.com
You (probably) have no idea just how huge The Internet of Things already is
7 June 2017
Few businesses have a handle on just how huge the impact of the Internet of Things (IoT) will be and already is.
That is where Nico Steyn’s company (he’s the cofounder and CEO) IoT.nxt comes in.
The IoT is the networking of “smart” devices over and above computers and phones.
The Money Show’s Bruce Whitfield interviewed Steyn for his weekly “ShapeShifter” feature.
SA’s IoT.nxt winner of MTN Internet of Things award
By Tom Jackson on
South African Internet of Things (IoT) startup IoT.nxt was named overall winner of the second MTN Internet of Things award event held at the Sandton Convention Centre, while also walking away with the Best Commercial Solution award.
The Pretoria-based IoT.nxt has developed a framework that moves business beyond islands of automation and towards a seamless horizontally and vertically integrated digital enterprise.
The company has recently opened offices in London and Amsterdam, and is pushing ahead with further expansion having secured a further ZAR100 million (US$7.7 million) from funding partner Talent Holdings in February.
Aside from IoT.nxt, which was winner in two categories, the other IoT startups that were recognised were Hear Scope, which won in the Most Disruptive category, Proximity ID, a winner in the Wildcard category, Digital Matter in the Most Innovative Hardware category, and MCX AgriTech in the Best Enterprise Development category.
IoT.nxt chief executive officer (CEO) Nico Steyn was pleased to win the MTN award, saying it was a great achievement for the team and was an endorsement for what it is doing and what it has achieved in 18 months.
“There is a revolution underway in business. Not only in South Africa but across the entire continent. Companies must adapt and change to remain competitive. IoT will deliver massive benefits to any company in any industry,” he said.
“This technology can deliver exponential value, as we have already seen in the many industries we are involved with. For instance, local mining companies are re-inventing themselves to remain relevant in a highly competitive global industry and are already seeing the benefits of the rapid deployment of new technology.”
MTN Business group executive Oliver Fortuin said the major strength of the IoT.nxt framework is that the solution is technology agnostic, which overcomes the challenge of connecting any and all devices or systems.
“This enables a company to deploy best of breed technologies with little or no disruption to the company’s current operations, allowing businesses to action an Internet of Things strategy quickly and easily,” he said.
“This year we were looking for ground-breaking solutions that use IoT applications and technology to generate income, productivity and streamline efficiencies in the corporate world. Interoperability, rapid deployment and ease-of-use were all major considerations.”
The awards were presented as part of MTN’s national IoT Conference, which showcased the latest trends, challenges and opportunities in the IoT space in a variety of industries, such as automotive, healthcare, asset and fleet management, manufacturing, security, retail, smart grid, smart metering, smart home and consumer electronics.
www.disrupt-africa.com
South Africa’s best IoT firms announced
By MTHULISI SIBANDA Johannesburg
IoT.nxt has emerged the biggest winner at the Internet of Things (IoT) Awards held in Johannesburg.
A technology company that has developed a world leading framework that makes the efficiencies, cost savings and increased revenue from IoT a reality for businesses, IoT.nxt clinched the Best Commercial Solution and was Overall Winner.
The award of the Most Disruptive Category went to Hear Scope while Proximity ID took home the Wildcard category with their cardless instant identification and access control system.
The Most Innovative Hardware award went to Digital Matter, which supplies an innovative range of GPS tracking and telematics devices and a user-friendly web-based software platform to the fleet, logistics and communications industries.
Indoor farming system MCX AgriTech came out tops in the Best Enterprise Development category.
All finalists had the opportunity to be trained on MTN’s revolutionary new machine-to-machine platform, and were given access to free software and hardware during the conception phase of the competition. As the overall winners, IOT.nxt received a trip for two to IoT Solutions World Congress in Barcelona to the value of R200 000.
Over 400 delegates, industry stakeholders and media attended the exclusive event celebrating the best of South Africa’s market-ready IoT solutions, applications and developers.
The inaugural IoT Awards in 2015 set the benchmark for IoT creation and innovation in South Africa, said MTN Business Group Executive, Oliver Fortuin.
“This year has been even better, with a proliferation of exciting solutions that have the potential to drastically transform the IoT space in the future.”
(CAJ News) http://cajnewsafrica.com/
IoT.nxt overall winner at MTN IOT Awards 2017
The winners of the second annual Internet of Things (IOT) Awards were announced yesterday at MTN Business Machine2Machine Conference at the Sandton Convention Centre.
The awards “celebrate the best of SA’s market-ready IOT solutions, applications and developers,” according to MTN Business group executive, Oliver Fortuin.
“This year we were looking for ground-breaking solutions that use IOT applications and technology to generate income, productivity and streamline efficiencies in the corporate world,” added Fortuin. “Interoperability, rapid deployment and ease-of-use were all major considerations.”
The Best Commercial Solution award (sponsored by ITWeb) and Overall Winner went to IoT.nxt, a technology company that has developed a framework that makes the efficiencies, cost savings and increased revenue from IOT a reality for businesses.
MTN Business says all finalists had the opportunity to be trained on MTN’s new machine-to-machine platform, and were given access to free software and hardware during the conception phase of the competition.
The awards were part of MTN’s national IOT Conference, which showcased trends, challenges and opportunities in the IOT space in a variety of industries.
www.itweb.co.za
Meet the newest member of the R100m club
IoT.nxt has had a blistering year, with overseas expansion and a big dose of investment.
Matthew Burbidge 2 May 2017
Anyone who is still wondering whether or not South African startups can hit the same levels of exponential growth and funding as their Silicon Valley peers need only take a look at Centurion-based company IoT.nxt. It’s just over a year since the company formed, and it recently announced that it has opened an international office, in London, and secured a massive R100-million investment to expand its research and development work.
Since the beginning of 2016, says CEO Nico Steyn, the firm has increased its headcount fivefold. Even so, he says, the demand for IoT.nxt’s Raptor platform has been so overwhelming that the company has found its R&D team is often pulled into active customer support. The main purpose of the funding will be to allow the team to work on new products and solutions in a more focussed way.
The backing comes via Talent 10 Holdings, a Midrand-based asset management company that has been critical to IoT.nxt’s success, says Steyn.
IoT.nxt’s core product is Raptor, a data-clearing platform that taps into the multibillion-dollar market for Internet of Things (IoT) solutions. It’s specifically designed to connect multi-vendor systems into a unified dashboard environment, allowing companies to visualise and analyse complex data in real-time. Steyn says Raptor grew out of challenges that the company faced when trying to implement conventional IoT solutions.
What we found was that no one had the ability to take data from legacy systems and industrial equipment and put it into a platform that is independent from the technology.Nico Steyn
Rip and replace
“We set out to create a platform for connecting subsystems for analytics,” Steyn says, adding that early customers included companies in the mining sector. “What we found was that no one had the ability to take data from legacy systems and industrial equipment and put it into a platform that is independent from the technology.”
Steyn says that many IoT solutions are sold on the basis of rip and replace, and there was a gap in the market for a platform that leveraged existing systems. Some of these, he says, have been in use for 20 to 50 years, but can still be digitised using Raptor.
Over the last 12 months, IoT.nxt has worked with customers in industries as varied as mining, automotive, manufacturing and telecoms, where it has developed remote site management solutions for monitoring. It’s also developed a close relationship with Deloitte – a partnership Steyn says has boosted growth. Together, the firms have worked on Transnet’s IntelliPort concept for automatic port terminals.
Steyn is bullish on future growth, and while he admits that part of the interest in IoT.nxt’s work is down to being in the ‘right place at the right time’, he says that there are plenty of opportunities for local tech firms to succeed.
“I believe that from a South African perspective, we often sell ourselves short and don’t give ourselves the credit we deserve,” Steyn says. “We have unbelievable people at IoT.nxt, and that’s what makes our business – it’s the calibre of people we have. I’m a firm believer in investing in people and following our own way of thinking.”
The current business climate creates big opportunities for IT firms, he continues.
“Even the local market is looking good because it’s under pressure,” he says, “And this type of technology helps people drive efficiencies in the business in ways they weren’t able to before. Look at the mining firms that have upgraded their credit rating, despite concerns around commodity prices and the economy, because they’ve become more productive. They’ve cut the fat, and digitisation is what makes that possible, and at the forefront of that is IoT.”
http://www.brainstormmag.co.za/technology/iot/
IoT.nxt to open Dutch office for Europe
Wednesday 26 April 2017 | 13:48 CET | News
South African startup IoT.nxt will be opening an office in the Netherlands this July, the company told Telecompaper. The opening of a Dutch branch follows the opening of one in London early this year. The new offices will help IoT.nxt shape its international ambitions.
The Dutch office in the Hague will serve Europe, headed by Joe Bester, the marketing director at the company. A number of South African employees will also be involved in the new office, as well as Dutch staff.
“The Netherlands has a strong technological focus and was therefore a logical choice”, Bester explained, around the company’s choice for the Netherlands. Bester also believes the Netherlands provides a good climate for startups as well as highly educated developers. Bester also added that Dutch legislation relating to the protection of privacy and data fits the company’s own values.
New phase for growth
IoT.nxt developed a platform for companies to integrate their IT platforms seamlessly into IoT devices. The company built a field gateway that allows data flows to be managed efficiently. IoT.nxt last month raised ZAR 100 million (around EUR 7 million)to fund its expansion plans.Since its launch in October 2015, the company said it has grown sharply and that the new investment will allow for a new phase of growth.
At the end of last month, ABI published a survey that showed the number of wired and wireless IoT connections in the industrial sector rising this year by 13 million worldwide to an installed base of over 53 million.
https://www.telecompaper.com
IoT.nxt secures funding to expand into European markets
Tuesday 14 March 2017 | 16:54 CET | News
South African Internet of Things company IoT.nxt has raised ZAR 100 million to fund its expansion plans, Fin24 reported. CEO of IoT.nxt, Nico Steyn announced that the company is looking to expand into the UK and other European markets, which are generally more developed in terms of IoT adoption than South Africa. He did however add that South Africa is rapidly catching up, and in some instances ahead of global companies.
IoT.nxt specialises in the development of software and hardware to connect IoT devices. In order to facilitate its international expansion, the company secured funding from partner Talent Holdings and has opened an office in London. Since the launch of IoT.nxt in October 2015, the company has quadrupled in workforce and with the new investment, the company is looking to grow further, according to Steyn.
www.telecompaper.com