The Internet of Things is gaining momentum in Southeast Asia, where countries like Singapore, Indonesia and Malaysia are leading the pack. A number of IoT startups have taken root in Southeast Asia, which is a hotbed of innovation and research. IoT startups in Singapore are pioneering IoT solutions in the areas of smart home solutions, smart building, IoT devices, industrial IoT, smart factories and more. These startups are receiving support from a number of investors and incubators that are focused on driving growth.

If forecasts for business IoT expenditure for 2022 are accurate, it’s been a successful year for IoT suppliers, and it’s also likely helped the slew of startups developing novel solutions for gathering, analysing, and preserving sensor data.

Some of the prominent IoT startups from the Southeast Asia region are listed below:

• Cerekon: This firm, founded by like-minded industry veterans with years of expertise in mechatronics and 3D visualisation, intends to provide value-based solutions via the adoption of IoT and Immersive Reality. The company develops end-to-end IoT, AR, and VR solutions, implementing on-premise and cloud solutions for IoT/IIoT, automating processes, and generating real-time dashboards using scientific analysis. The startup team is made up of domain professionals such as developers, Solution Architects, Sensor/Control Systems Engineers, and others, and is based in Singapore, India, and Canada.
  
• BorderPass: BorderPass leverages IoT to solve the problem of ASEAN’s serpentine, hour-long immigration lines. BorderPass replaces paper immigration forms with online profiles that are submitted to the destination country well in advance of the trip. This permits immigration officers to pre-clear travellers, allowing them to bypass the line and proceed through the automated gate with their BorderPass.
  
• UnaBiz: UnaBiz is Asia’s facilitator of the Massive IoT. In Taiwan, the firm specialises in offering economical, well-designed solutions that are energy efficient, highly scalable, and easy to operate. It also constructed the first IoT-dedicated network in Singapore. UnaBiz offers a wide variety of services, from product design to production, and it taps into a worldwide IoT ecosystem of System Integrators, solution providers, and module manufacturers to fuel company expansion. Currently, the firm sells in 28 countries and focuses on major sectors such facilities management, asset management, asset monitoring, and smart parking.
  
• IoT Chain: IoT Chain (ITC) is a lightweight operating system that implements VRF+BFT, DAG, and SPV technology while using blockchain ideas, enabling data to be layered and stored in a decentralised way and offering security with the combined power of the network’s millions of IoT nodes. The business hopes to do this by creating a sharing economy for Internet of Things (IoT) devices in a decentralised and energy-efficient environment while also generating a plethora of useful user data. It is based in Singapore and aims to provide a safe, lightweight operating system for the Internet of Things. IoT Chain is employing distributed ledger technology to address existing IoT security and safety challenges.
  
• Technocracy: Technocracy was created by technopreneurs with extensive expertise in the technology, financial services, and telecommunications industries. Technocracy, in collaboration with key service partners, provides value-added services to companies in Asia, the Middle East, and North America. They have offices in Singapore, the Middle East, Japan, and North America where they provide business consulting services.
  
• KaHa: KaHa delivers SMART IoT Wearable systems that allow consumer businesses to launch a variety of smart goods under the brand names COVE and COVENET. They want to incorporate wearable technology into daily life to make it more enriching, safe, and enjoyable. They want to achieve a quick time to market, a unique value proposition for end users, and in-house competence from design ideas to finished products using IoT. The IoT is used extensively in all of their products and research involving end users.
• PINS: PINS Indonesia, a subsidiary of Indonesia’s largest telecommunications operator Telkom Indonesia, uses IoT technology to link devices and networks with personnel. Home and office automation, smart city projects, traffic management, and smart grids are among the company’s responsibilities.
• Overdrive: Overdrive, a Singapore-based IoT business, has secured US$2.9 million in a Series A investment from venture capital firm Tin Men Capital. The company’s founders created an IoT platform that allows organisations to create a linked data sensing environment by pulling data from various sources such as commodities, automobiles, and machines. The platform is then customised to meet business goals including real-time tracking and monitoring, exception alerting, and command centre visualisation to the best of its ability. Companies and organisations such as Nanyang Technological University, FedEx, Ascendas, and others have used their platform.
• REDtone IoT: REDtone, primarily a telecommunications company, forayed into the Internet of Things with its customised Smart City solutions. CitiSense from REDtone is a cloud-based cluster that serves as an anchor point for IoT applications and provides capabilities for large data storage and analytics. Citizens may also use the CitiSense site to report problems with city utilities.
• Ranosys: The firm is headquartered in Singapore and has service delivery centres in London, United Kingdom, and the San Francisco Bay Area, California, United States. It also has three development centres across the world. The business is working on IoT applications that will let clients communicate with consumers more efficiently and open up new income streams. It is also assisting organisations in leveraging the potential of linked enterprise products and solutions to create next-generation IoT services, as well as outsourcing and consulting in the IoT area.

• Umitron: Umitron, a Singapore-based aquatech firm, assesses and mitigates hazards connected with the ocean environment and farm operations using Internet of Things technologies and satellite remote sensing. The firm is hoping to grow its business to other markets via collaborations with enterprise aquafarms and insurance providers for sustainable aquaculture, having recently secured S$3.7 million from Mirai Creation Fund.
  
• Trilogy Technologies: Trilogy Technologies is a company that specialises in technology. Singapore-based Wire harnesses, printed circuit boards, and electro-mechanical assemblies are all manufactured by Trilogy for companies wishing to go the IoT route. Trilogy has positioned itself as a major IoT player in the area simply because it is one of the few non-Chinese businesses still operating on the manufacturing side of the ecosystem.
• Unified Inbox: UIB is a worldwide cloud computing firm that delivers technology for the smart home, connected device makers, real estate, hospitality, and other industries. It was founded in 2010. The company’s IoT-based solutions assist with activities such as raising revenues, lowering expenses, and pleasing consumers. UnificationEngine®, Unified AI®, and SmartContact® technologies are some of the company’s patented products.
• XPed: This Internet of Things firm has created a number of ground-breaking, patent-protected technologies that enable any user, regardless of technical aptitude, to connect, monitor, and control gadgets and appliances present in our daily lives. Manufacturers, merchants, data centres, health, and other businesses may benefit from its IoT solutions.
• Variantz: The firm uses AI to deliver apps that ease connection and enhance operational efficiency for both businesses and consumers. It is one of the top suppliers of Converged Application Ecosystem Platform for Smart and Connected IoT. Its goal is to assist businesses in realising the practical benefit of smart connectivity via the unification of data insights. The Variantz application platform connects, engages, and collaborates effortlessly across a variety of smart devices and apps. They provide smart hub speakers, smart security and safety solutions, lighting, and more.

In the Final Analysis:

In an era of hyper-connectivity, the Internet of Things (IoT) provides the foundation for a flourishing industry in which many inventors supply software and hardware for anything from intelligent homes and automobiles to medical devices and factories. Worldwide by 2025, forecasts say, the IoT market will generate between $1 trillion and $3 trillion in revenue owing to a move from basic connection to IoT-powered apps, platforms and services. In this regard, the SEA region will also experience a market boost in this industry. Startups can make use of this opportunity and use the increasing interest to further their businesses.