The Brazilian deep-tech startup is a pioneer in the Plug, Play and Forget concept, allowing any sensors and devices to capture wasted energy in the environment to operate autonomously
São Paulo, June, 2022. Soon the low autonomy of batteries and their damage to the environment will no longer be obstacles to the scalability of the Internet of Things (IoT). Indicator Capital, a Brazilian early-stage venture capital firm, manager of the largest IoT fund established in Latin America, member of the B™ system and which has environmental concerns at the center of its thesis, has just announced the 7th contribution made through the Indicator 2 IoT Fund.
The investment round of US$ 3 million is in IBBX, a Brazilian startup that developed a disruptive technology, capable of literally capturing the 'energy lost in the air' in the form of low-frequency electromagnetic signals. In this way, it is possible to connect, use and forget about a connected sensor, an innovative concept called Plug, Play and Forget.
Energy Harvesting, as the technology to capture energy wasted in the environment is called, allows the transmission of energy and data at high speed over long distances, which makes the solution even more breakthrough. This technology is different from wireless power transmission (WPT) commonly used in smartphone devices. For comparison purposes, existing wireless communication solutions use technologies such as Wi-Fi and Bluetooth, which have a distance limitation – Wi-Fi does not exceed 30 meters and Bluetooth, around 10 meters. In contrast, the IBBX solution called Aurea has a range of 1,000 meters.
With its proprietary communication protocol, IBBX is able to transfer data over long distances through low frequency electromagnetic waves, ideal for industrial environments, characterized by high electromagnetic interference, large areas and low connectivity. As for energy, the IBBX technology overcomes greater barriers, since the options available today are batteries, which need to be changed periodically.
According to Luís Fernando Destro, co-founder and CEO of IBBX, the startup identified the need for wireless solutions, considering the cost and logistics infeasibility to cable dozens, sometimes hundreds, of sensors in factory yards. “Some market solutions use portable sensors that depend on being manually carried by technicians, asset by asset, making the reading process more expensive, non-scalable and uncommon. Our sensors are fixed to industrial assets, collect the data and send them by radio waves to the gateways, which transmit the data to the IBBX cloud over the internet. And all this without wires or battery replacement, as they capture the energy of electromagnetic waves spontaneously generated in the industrial environment”, says Destro.
IBBX is extremely strategic for Indicator's IoT ecosystem and the investment round addresses the UN's Sustainable Development Goals 7, for ensuring access to viable, sustainable and modern energy sources, and 9, for building resilient infrastructures, promoting inclusive and sustainable industrialization, and fostering innovation.
“We wake up every day thinking about boosting Brazilian heroes in deep-tech and IBBX is a perfect example of what we are looking for. From Capivari (SP), they created an absolutely breakthrough technology capable of mapping all applications that still depend on a battery to operate or where a power wire cannot reach. IBBX is already growing fast and, with our contribution and experience, they will solve one of the greatest challenges of humanity, which is the waste of batteries in the environment. We will be protagonists of national technology impacting internationally, the main goal of the National IoT Plan and the mandate of the Indicator 2 IoT fund originated by BNDES and Qualcomm Ventures”, says Derek Bittar, co-founder of the venture capital manager firm.
IBBX's technology is currently starting to transform industry 4.0, but has application to all segments, whether in agriculture, healthcare, cities and every home. Have you ever thought about not needing to change the battery of your TV remote control anymore.
About Indicator Capital
Founded in 2014, Indicator Capital is a Brazilian venture capital firm operating in Sao Paulo and the Silicon Valley. The partnership formed by Derek Lundgren Bittar, Fabio Iunis de Paula, and Thomas Lundgren Bittar, promotes the convergence between the dream of the entrepreneur and the financial return for the investor, tropicalizing American best practices to national startups. With more than R$ 300MM under management, Indicator Capital is the largest early-stage venture capital firm in Latin America specialized in the Internet of Things (IoT). In their investments, the partners apply value-adding, proprietary methodology Building Value Together®, besides acting as Investors for Good, a concept reinforced by the firm`s certification as a B System™ company.
About IBBX
IBBX is a Brazilian startup focused on the development of wireless energy technology. The company developed and deposited patents for its proprietary technology solution, providing electrical power from electromagnetic waves, capable of charging fixed and mobile devices, such as security cameras, smartphones, remote controls and IoT devices, including those used for industrial monitoring. While there are other companies around the world working on this concept, IBBX technology excels in power, range and mobility.
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