The Kitchener-Waterloo startup's mesh network technology is already helping Fortune 500 companies track assets.
While lost goods and machinery can cost logistics and manufacturing businesses a lot of money, tracking them more closely can also be challenging and costly, according to Assetflo co-founder and CTO Eli Makhoul.
Makhula's company has created a patented mesh network technology designed to solve this problem. Assetflo's Internet of Things (IoT)-based tracking system is designed to help companies track and avoid asset loss, both internally and externally, in a more cost-effective manner by leveraging existing equipment.
“We believe that everything in the physical world should be searchable and located… Our mission is to make this viable.”
Eli Makhoul,
Assetflo
The Kitchener-Waterloo startup, which has already deployed its product to several undisclosed Fortune 500 clients, is now working to refine its technology and go-to-market strategy as it seeks to attract more enterprise clients with $2 million in seed funding (nearly $2.8 million Canadian), Makhoul announced today in an exclusive interview with BetaKit.
“We believe that everything in the physical world should be searchable and located… Our mission is to make this viable,” Makhoul said.
Assetflo's initial seed round, which closed in August, was led by a new investor. GreenSky VenturesToronto-based early-stage venture capital (VC) firm, with support from existing backers such as Oakville fleet management technology company Geotab and Mega Innovation. Makhoul did not share Assetflo's assessment. This seed round will bring total venture funding to approximately $3 million; Assetflo also received $1 million in grants.
Founded in 2019 by Mahul and Noaman Makki, Assetflo sells software and hardware that helps clients track the location and health of their assets. Using a mesh network, Assetflo receives data from its own sensors as well as from customers' existing infrastructure, including routers deployed for Wi-Fi coverage only. Makhoul claims that Assetflo's algorithm can configure these hubs for IoT purposes, allowing customers to track their assets using less new hardware.
The Assetflo platform can be used to monitor goods in fulfillment centers, equipment in industrial plants, and packages for logistics businesses. For example, warehouse operators can use Assetflo to view the current location of their pallets or forklifts on a 3D map.
Images courtesy of Assetflo
While Global Positioning System (GPS) offers superior tracking capabilities outdoors, its indoor mapping capabilities are more limited. Considering this, hybrid positioning systems or real-time locating systems (RTLS) are commonly used to map indoor environments. This can make it difficult to monitor objects moving from inside buildings or vehicles to outside, or vice versa.
Makhoul argues that Assetflo's “adaptive RTLS” approach answers the question: “How can you use everything and let it work everywhere?” using machine learning to determine which RTLS, GPS, Bluetooth or other forms of IoT connectivity make the most sense to use, when and where.
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“The company's platform addresses a clear need for accurate and cost-effective asset tracking, and we look forward to supporting its next phase of growth,” GreenSky chief technology officer and former Research in Motion CIO Valdis Martinsons said in a statement.
Makhoul said GreenSky's technical expertise was part of what attracted Assetflo to the firm. Regarding the participation of Geotab, which has become a profitable global leader in vehicle tracking technology, it is reported that over 1 billion dollars annual revenue – Assetflo's CTO said the company is committed to supporting startups that are expanding into other areas such as indoor asset monitoring. Today, the Assetflo solution runs exclusively on Geotab.
“If you can succeed in the Geotab ecosystem, then you have a path forward,” Makhoul said.
Assetflo is currently focusing on improving what it calls the “digital floor.” But Makhoul said the startup's broader vision includes developing digital twins—or dynamic virtual copies of these assets and their environments—to provide customers with even greater transparency to address cost-effectiveness, performance, compliance and security issues.
Like Google, Apple and other players continue to expand Given the power of indoor mapping, Assetflo sees potential in using its asset tracking technology to create even better indoor views.
Image provided Unsplash. Photo by the author CHATTERSNAP.
