Supporting B2B and Industrial IoT startups at Startupbootcamp IoT

The first is that investment in this area continues to grow (more on that over here), whilst investment in consumer hardware products has waned as a result of failed products, poor adoption and low returns.

It's also the nature of any market maturing that logically see the weaker/hyped technology fade to the benefit of the stronger, higher growth potential and more sustainable products. Not a Moores law consequence here, more of a Darwinian way of seeing the technology evolve.

The second is simply better and cheaper technology. In the past innovation in the Industrial IoT space has been left to the big players such as GE and Cisco, but reducing technology costs have made the sector more accessible to startups. An example of this is the lower cost of off-the-shelf hardware devices and sensors. Such sensors are now being deployed across a range of industries including agriculture and manufacturing, creating an explosion of data that needs managing and interpreting. This has been supported by the speed at which machine learning has progressed, allowing a number of startups to create end to end solutions for Industrial and B2B IoT.

What this means for Startupbootcamp IoT
When the company opened applications to its 2017 programme back in April it felt that support for these Industrial and B2B startups was lacking. That’s why it made a conscious effort to meet and help more of these startups in the months that followed. Fast forward to today and, having begun the second growth programme this week, nine startups have been highlighted for support over the coming months.

You can see it picked a wide spectrum of IoT segments as diverse as Smart Transportation, Smart Agriculture, Smart Security or even Robotics.

HUDlog
Through an augmented reality interface, HUDlog is improving professional driver habits so that fleet managers can reduce their day-to-day fuel costs and vehicle maintenance expenses.

Internet of Trees
Thanks to a wireless monitoring module, Internet of trees allows conservation groups to monitor a whole forest, helping them detect fires and monitor environmental factors (such as temperature and soil conditions) affecting forest growth.

Mothive
Mothive helps high-margin fruit growers to increase production yields and reduce the risk of crop disease by giving them the data they need to improve management activities (such as irrigation) and predict future cultivation.

Odyssey Sensors
Odyssey Sensors has built TankSentry, an easy, efficient and cost effective way for low-margin farmers to manage their water supply. Their solution can be integrated with existing data management subscriptions allowing farms to spend less money and time collecting and analysing water data.

Robotic Solutions
Robotic Solutions is giving the manufacturers and owners of cleaning machines a ready to install tracking device that helps an end-user improve cleaning habits and increase operational efficiency.

Storybot
Storybot is a screen-free gaming device for children which transports them into immersive worlds. New and popular games can be played solo or with friends to help keep children physically and socially active.

Sonodot
Sonodot increases a warehouse’s or manufacturer’s efficiency and safety by allowing them to track high-value assets (such as forklifts) or perishable goods. Sonodot’s plug and play device provides key stakeholders with this data in real time.

ThingBlox
ThingBlox has developed a range of plug and play hardware modules that allow IoT devices to securely communicate with one another without the threat of being hacked.

Through a special long range RFID chip in a standard plastic card, Unifi.id gives building managers new levels of insight into where people are in their building, allowing them to deliver better service, improve security and safety, and optimise their utility usage.

What’s next?
In the coming weeks Startupbootcamp IoT will be working with the teams on, amongst other things, their positioning, branding, and go-to-market strategy. Given each startup is developing both a hardware and software component to their solution, it will also be focusing on the technical viability of each solution.

This is all with the aim of getting each startup ready to talk to partners, investors and customers in time for our Investor Week and Demo Day events in January next year.

The piece was written by Raph Crouan, and the original can be found here.