To set up centers in Bengaluru and Mumbai and possibly New Delhi later.
iWire raises US$34 million in Series A funding led by Noor Capital and supported by Bpifrance, to accelerate its foray into newer markets including India
iWire, one of the emerging leaders in IoT (Internet of Things) and a long-standing partner of Sigfox, the 0G network pioneer and the world’s leading IoT service provider, today announced that it will be the exclusive operator for Sigfox, in the Indian market. The India availability announcement coincides with its’ Series A US$34 million fundraise led by Noor Capital and supported by Bpifrance, the French sovereign wealth fund and a leading Export Credit Agency in Europe (Bpifrance Assurance Export acting on behalf of the French State). Bpifrance has granted a long-term equipment purchase option to iWire, through a US$25 million buyer credit agreement, exclusively for the development of Sigfox networks in 12 countries across Asia, Middle East and Africa including India.
The investment will be utilized by iWire to expand, over the coming years, its geographic presence across 12 countries, by building the digital communication infrastructure to power massive IoT. iWire has so far raised over US$47 million, over the past three years. The demand for dedicated IoT networks is growing world-wide and considering billions of connected devices, the timing of the network deployment, is highly significant. iWire has already deployed the Sigfox network in the UAE in 2019. While extending its network coverage to India, Bahrain, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Turkey and Tunisia is the immediate priority, in 2022, it will expand the network to Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and a few more countries in the Middle East & Africa.
In his comments, Ahmed Fasih Akhtar, CEO of iWire said, “We offer our customers an alternative to legacy connectivity solutions, thus enabling successful digital transformation at a lower cost of ownership. Our solutions contribute to our customers’ business efficiencies as well as their satisfaction. We believe India is at a crucial inflection point and the pandemic is only accelerating the transformation further. This is the best time for us to be here. Besides, our knowledge of deploying IoT networks has led to deep understanding of the various challenges faced by the industry positions iWire well in delivering added value to emerging markets like India.”
“Companies and organizations across the world are embracing IoT and 0G to transform the way they operate. We are thrilled to have a great company like iWire amongst our incredible community of Sigfox Operators, now representing us in India as well. There has been significant interest in India to our network and offering which iWire will now look to build on,” added Jeremy Prince, the CEO of Sigfox.
Noor Capital PSC is a Private Joint Stock Company headquartered in Abu Dhabi. The company is authorized and regulated by the Securities and Commodities Authority of the United Arab Emirates to conduct Financial Investment and Consultancy as well as Financial and Monetary Intermediary Business.
Bpifrance finances companies at every stage of their development with credit, guarantees and equity. It supports them in their innovation and international projects. It also ensures their export activity through a wide range of products. Advice, university, networking and acceleration programs for start-ups, SMEs and ETIs are all part of the offer to entrepreneurs. Thanks to Bpifrance and its 50 regional offices, entrepreneurs benefit from a close, single and efficient contact to help them face their challenges.
Founded in 2010, France-based Sigfox is the 0G network pioneer and the world’s leading IoT (Internet of Things) service provider. It offers a unique combination of ultra-low cost and ultra-low power technologies supported by a global network, enabling businesses to gain visibility and track their assets worldwide. With 17+ million connected devices and 70 million messages sent a day, Sigfox helps its customers to extract crucial data at the lowest cost and to accelerate their digital transformation in key areas like Asset Tracking and Supply Chain. ISO 9001 certified and surrounded by a large ecosystem of partners and IoT key players, Sigfox has offices in Boston, Dallas, Dubai, Madrid, Paris, Sao Paulo, Singapore and Tokyo.
About iWire:
Launched in April 2018, UAE-based iWire builds country-wide communications networks to power massive IoT solutions, using Sigfox technology. It also designs and develops innovative IoT products and solutions that are critical for achieving digital transformation. In addition to its network expansion and IoT service offerings, iWire is also developing IoT devices under its own brand “iWire Technologies”.
It has great ambitions for this business, as the market for connected devices is experiencing exponential growth. iWire aims to offer a wide range of high-quality connected products such as utility meters, gas sensors, health watch, smart ID, smoke detectors, container trackers and streetlighting solutions.
iWire targets high-volume industries that use connected products the most like Utilities, Smart Cities, Smart Facilities, Digital Health and Smart Logistics. The strategy is to develop IoT products and sell them through distribution channels on a global scale. Having one of the largest communication networks, designed for massive IoT across multiple geographies, is thus highly synergistic.
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Farzan Moharkan, PRHUB
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