TrackNet is a fairly new developer of end-to-end solutions for Internet of Things applications, using LoRa and LoRaWAN. However, its founders played an important role in the industry.
The company, with offices in Switzerland and California and founded by former IBM and Semtech employees, secured a Series A investment to develop and deploy IoT solutions in January 2017.
The investment, for an amount of $7 million, was done by Minol Zenner Group and Gemtek Corporation. TrackNet is a name to watch as the firm’s employees were closely involved in the rise and growth of the LoRa Alliance and LoRaWAN technology (non-cellular LPWAN). As a reminder: Semtech, where some of the TrackNet people come from, is the ‘inventor’ of LoRa and founder of the LoRa Alliance.
In the meantime the company also joined the Lora Alliance in February 2017 .
Investor Gemtek is an active member of the LoRa Alliance, expecting significant growth in the LPWAN market. The company develops OEM telecommunications equipment and LoRa products. The second investor, Minnol Zenner Group is globally active in the smart meter and sub-metering market.
A strong history in the LoRA ecosystem for new solutions
As said, the founders and employees of the company have a long history in the LPWAN and LoRaWAN space. TrackNet CEO, Hardy Schmidbauer worked as Director of Wireless and IoT at Semtech and was the first marketing chairman of the LoRa Alliance.
Co-founders Dr. Thorsten Kramp and Dr. Thomas Eirich were among the original authors of the LoRaWAN specificaton, while at IBM Research. One of both former IBM scientists, Dr. Kramp, also was instrumental in the development of the intellectual property rights policy to fit the requirements of LoRa Alliance co-founders IBM and Cisco.
Finally, Joe Knapp, co-founder of Tracknet, worked on LoRaWAN operation for North America with the FCC, when still at Semtech.
Tracknet plans to launch solutions for both consumer applications as the Industrial Internet of Things. The LoRa Alliance is one of the main players (technology and ecosystem) in the (non-cellular) LPWAN market.
Sources and more info:
- Press release on the the Series A investment of Tracknet.
- Press release on the company joining the LoRa Alliance (PDF opens).
- The website of Tracknet.
