Updates: We have corrected several parts of the article including Philippe Chiu’s surname and Unabiz’s services. We apologise for the inconvenience caused.
Singapore-operated IoT company who specialises in low power wireless network, UnaBiz, is on a fast track.
During a virtual correspondence with Henri Bong (CEO), Davy Lassagne (CFO), and Philippe Chiu (CTO), we were brought into the company’s journey in making the world an energy-conscious place, one step at a time, and convincing investors to invest in its Series B round, shortly after winning a deal with Nippon Gas Co. (Nicigas), the largest Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) operator in Japan.
What the company does
UnaBiz’s IoT solutions are characterised by its simplicity and efficiency because the company said that “the best IoT experience is one that is simple and easy to use”.
“We champion low power consuming wireless products and solutions which translate to years of battery autonomy. Installation is kept simple, with no infrastructure investment, so that projects can be scaled up easily, globally,” said Bong, painting the mental image for what exactly the company offers.
Catering to customers’ unique energy needs
Bong then explained further: “When it comes to customised solutions, we always take our time to understand our clients’ field, before recommending the right solution that is best suited to their requirements.”
Doing this means stripping away unnecessarily complex features and sending small data packages so that less power is used. “Currently, our main focus lies in smart metering, smart parking, asset tracking, and asset management,” he explained.
The deal that took a turn
With what the company offers, in November 2019, Nicigas signed a deal with UnaBiz. It was done shortly after Nicigas announced its plan to digitalise the consumption management of their business.
Bong explained that UnaBiz was chosen because Nicigas had shopped around for several off-the-shelves and custom-build solutions from reputable companies but none of them meet their requirements completely, at the right cost for them to justify their ROI.
Also Read: Six Singapore-based IoT companies sign deal with Thailand’s depa
“We came in at the right time with the right set of skills and expertise to make it happen. Being small and agile allows us to adapt our solutions and processes to meet our customer’s needs in a much faster timeframe compared to bigger players,” Bong said.
The deal would involve UnaBiz as hardware provider and Soracom as IoT platform provider deploying 850,000 smart gas meter readers across the Kanto Region by the end of 2020.
The project was meant to seek to upgrade the energy retailer’s grid into IoT-enabled, digitalised, and data-driven operations are one of the most ambitious IoT projects worldwide.
Bong also recalled that the possible collaboration dated way before the deal is done. “We met Nicigas two years ago in Japan through the introduction of our strategic partner and investor Soracom, part of the KDDI group,” Bong recalled.
Nicigas is now deploying thousands of smart meters per day.
How UnaBiz’s technology changes lives
Household energy-consumption data has traditionally been collected manually by dedicated staff every month. This method is costly, prone to errors, and entirely dependent on a regular workforce which most companies do not have the luxury of currently.
With the new smart meter readers, consumption data can be collected hourly without any manual reading and is sent wirelessly to Nicigas daily. Secondly, more accurate data also translates to optimised gas delivery which reduces stress on logistics.
What this means for the utility company by choosing to collect data in a cost-efficient manner, more regularly, is lower operational cost, and overall better decisions on pricing, logistics, and infrastructure needs.
As for the gas consumers, it means access to accurate billing and a customised service offer that is catered to their lifestyle based on their usage pattern.
In the event of an emergency, such as an earthquake or a gas leak, the meters can automatically shut down the gas valve, which would have been a challenge with restricted movement.
Also Read: IoT company UnaBiz raises US$10M+ Series A funding round
What’s next for the industry
Chiu continued: “We do not believe in the term ‘energy-conserved tech industry. It simply doesn’t make sense to have an industry driven by a single goal of energy conservation.”
The company chose to view energy-saving as one of many ways for companies with tangible assets in the field such as beer kegs, airport ground equipment, utility meters, and so on to become more efficient and economically sustainable.
UnaBiz believes that while some companies rely on these methods to survive and deal with the ever-increasing cost of operations and rarifying resources, some companies may qualify these actions as energy conservation efforts.
Also Read: IoT should be like the air we breathe: UnaBiz on making the technology accessible to everyone
“Once company executives understand that energy conservation is all about business optimisation, we will be here to help them digitalise their business using IoT, which is a mandatory stepping stone toward sustainable business,” Chius said.
Series B financing
Even though it may not appear to be the best timing, UnaBiz confirmed that the Series B fundraising for the company has kicked off. The reasoning behind the fundraising made complete sense.
UnaBiz believes that the fact that the company is already profitable in its third year of operations and their ability to bounce back and remain resilient even with the sudden hit of the COVID-19 pandemic has proven their worth to the investors.
“But all in all, we believe that IoT related tech companies are going to benefit from this growing interest, as the coronavirus has pushed even more corporations to accelerate their digitalisation,” Lassagne emphasised.
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Image Credit: UnaBiz
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