South African Internet of Things (IoT) startup IoT.nxt was named overall winner of the second MTN Internet of Things award event held at the Sandton Convention Centre, while also walking away with the Best Commercial Solution award.
The Pretoria-based IoT.nxt has developed a framework that moves business beyond islands of automation and towards a seamless horizontally and vertically integrated digital enterprise.
The company has recently opened offices in London and Amsterdam, and is pushing ahead with further expansion having secured a further ZAR100 million (US$7.7 million) from funding partner Talent Holdings in February.
Aside from IoT.nxt, which was winner in two categories, the other IoT startups that were recognised were Hear Scope, which won in the Most Disruptive category, Proximity ID, a winner in the Wildcard category, Digital Matter in the Most Innovative Hardware category, and MCX AgriTech in the Best Enterprise Development category.
IoT.nxt chief executive officer (CEO) Nico Steyn was pleased to win the MTN award, saying it was a great achievement for the team and was an endorsement for what it is doing and what it has achieved in 18 months.
“There is a revolution underway in business. Not only in South Africa but across the entire continent. Companies must adapt and change to remain competitive. IoT will deliver massive benefits to any company in any industry,” he said.
“This technology can deliver exponential value, as we have already seen in the many industries we are involved with. For instance, local mining companies are re-inventing themselves to remain relevant in a highly competitive global industry and are already seeing the benefits of the rapid deployment of new technology.”
MTN Business group executive Oliver Fortuin said the major strength of the IoT.nxt framework is that the solution is technology agnostic, which overcomes the challenge of connecting any and all devices or systems.
“This enables a company to deploy best of breed technologies with little or no disruption to the company’s current operations, allowing businesses to action an Internet of Things strategy quickly and easily,” he said.
“This year we were looking for ground-breaking solutions that use IoT applications and technology to generate income, productivity and streamline efficiencies in the corporate world. Interoperability, rapid deployment and ease-of-use were all major considerations.”
The awards were presented as part of MTN’s national IoT Conference, which showcased the latest trends, challenges and opportunities in the IoT space in a variety of industries, such as automotive, healthcare, asset and fleet management, manufacturing, security, retail, smart grid, smart metering, smart home and consumer electronics.
