SINGAPORE, Aug. 28, 2018 – UnaBiz, Sigfox’s operator for Singapore and Taiwan, raised over US10 million in its Series A funding round with strategic investments from KDDI and ENGIE. The round marks a new milestone in its mission to empower massive Internet of Things (IoT).
The new funds will support the development of IoT applications that combines connectivity, end-to-end solutions, and engineering services. Over the past two years, UnaBiz has established a competitive edge in Asia with Sigfox’s low-cost connectivity, a significant benefit for enterprises in the region. In collaboration with its partners, UnaBiz will deliver scalable, cost-efficient and high-quality solutions to address the digital challenges in key industry verticals, including Aerospace, Facilities Management, Food and Beverage, Logistics, Security, Supply Chain and Smart Cities.
KDDI, Japan’s global telecommunications pioneer, led the round through “SORACOM IoT Fund Program”. SORACOM Inc, the KDDI Group company that runs the programme, is a multi-standard IoT platform that operates in over 100 countries.
“UnaBiz is at the forefront of IoT in Singapore and Taiwan, and collaborating with its dedicated will bring opportunities for further growth. Our joint efforts will accelerate the buildout of an even stronger international IoT ecosystem to develop new solutions for our customers.” – Ken Tamagawa, CEO, and co-founder of SORACOM Inc.
ENGIE, the global energy and services leader, reaffirmed its confidence in UnaBiz’s vision with another round of fund injection through ENGIE New Ventures, following its earlier seed investment.
“IoT, along with data science, artificial intelligence and machine learning are at the heart of our digital strategy, and UnaBiz shares that vision of a connected world with us. This new investment will contribute in consolidating ENGIE’s LPWAN ecosystem”, Johann Boukhors, Director Corporate Venture Capital at ENGIE.
“ENGIE Services Singapore has been working closely with UnaBiz to deploy smart cities solutions in the areas of facilities and energy management and operation maintenance. We look forward to taking this partnership to the next level.” – Csilla Kohalmi-Monfils, EVP Strategy & New Business, ENGIE APAC.
In addition to the two leads, UnaBiz’s pool of supporter also includes notable angel investors from Singapore, as well as Taiwanese security management giant Shin Kong Security, a subsidiary of the Shin Kong Group.
Sigfox, the global market leader in low-power wide-area network (LPWAN), is a dedicated communication service for the Internet of things already deployed in more than 45 countries. As an energy and cost-efficient international network, Sigfox is highly scalable and the go-to solution for global IoT projects.
“The UnaBiz team has established a strong foothold in the IoT field, in both Singapore and Taiwan. This funding round will enable them to enhance their contribution to the Sigfox ecosystem,” confirmed Ludovic Le Moan, CEO and co-founder of Sigfox.
“The success of this series is the fruition of the tireless effort from the entire UnaBiz team, and with it we will enter a new stage of growth. In just two years, we have addressed the challenges of IoT by rolling out two national networks, building an ecosystem of over 200 partners across Asia and signing deals in over 25 countries, connecting devices across five continents. With our new international partners supporting us not only financially but also operationally, UnaBiz will now play a more prominent role in empowering massive Internet of Things and in positioning Singapore as the Global IoT Innovation Hub,” said Henri Bong, CEO and co-founder of UnaBiz.
About SORACOM
SORACOM is the market-leading platform for cloud-native IoT connectivity, used by more than 10,000 customers worldwide. SORACOM provides customers and partners across industries with the tools they need to connect, protect, control and coordinate their IoT deployments at speed and at scale. Launched as a venture-backed company in 2015, SORACOM was acquired by mobile operator KDDI in August, 2017, greatly expanding the company’s resources for global expansion.
For more information, please visit: soracom.io
About KDDI
KDDI is a Fortune Global 500 company and one of Asia’s largest telecommunications providers. Having operations in over 60 cities worldwide, KDDI provides customers with network services, data centers, system integration, and more around the world.
For more information, please visit kddi.com/english and global.kddi.com/
About Global Brain
Global Brain (“GB”) is a General Partner of KDDI Open Innovation Fund III (“KOIF3”). Including KOIF3, GB has managed several venture capital funds and has invested globally, with around $1billion asset under management.
For more information, please visit: globalbrains.com/en/
About ENGIE
ENGIE is committed to taking on the major challenges of the energy revolution, towards a world more decarbonised, decentralised and digitalised. The Group aims to become the leader of this new energy world by focusing on three key activities for the future: low carbon generation in particular from natural gas and renewable energy, energy infrastructure and efficient solutions adapted to all its customers (individuals, businesses, territories, etc.).
Innovation, digital solutions and customer satisfaction are the guiding principles of ENGIE’s development. ENGIE is active in around 70 countries, employs 150,000 people worldwide and achieved revenues of €65 billion in 2017. The Group is listed on the Paris and Brussels stock exchanges (ENGI) and is represented in the main financial indices (CAC 40, BEL 20, DJ Euro Stoxx 50, Euronext 100, FTSE Eurotop 100, MSCI Europe) and non-financial indices (DJSI World, DJSI Europe and Euronext Vigeo Eiris – World 120, Eurozone 120, Europe 120, France 20, CAC 40 Governance). For further information, visit www.engie.com
About Sigfox
Sigfox is the world’s leading provider of connectivity for the Internet of Things (IoT). The company has built a global network to connect billions of devices to the Internet while consuming as little energy as possible, as simply as possible. Sigfox’s unique approach to device-to-cloud communications addresses the three greatest barriers to global IoT adoption: cost, energy consumption, and global scalability. Today, the network is present in 45 countries and on track to cover 60 by 2018. With millions of objects connected and a rapidly growing partner ecosystem, Sigfox empowers companies to move their business model towards more digital services. Founded in 2010 by Ludovic Le Moan and Christophe Fourtet, the company is headquartered in Labège near Toulouse, France’s “IoT Valley”. Sigfox also has offices in Paris, Madrid, Munich, Boston, San Francisco, Dubai, Singapore, Sao Paulo and Tokyo.
About UnaBiz
UnaBiz is an end-to-end Internet of Things (IoT) solutions company dedicated to accelerate the adoption of IoT worldwide. As the exclusive network operator of Sigfox’s low-power wide-area network (LPWAN) in Singapore and Taiwan, UnaBiz is the first Iot dedicated network operator in Asia to roll out a nationwide IoT network. The LPWAN network currently covers 99% of Singapore’s and 95% of Taiwan’s population. UnaBiz aims to shape the future by providing cost-effective and energy-efficient IoT solutions, that include wireless infrastructure, devices and beyond. This ubiquitous network will allow businesses to connect millions of devices simply, affordably and globally.
For more information, please visit: www.unabiz.com
