Dubai-based iWire has announced it has raised $34 million in Series A funding led by Noor Capital and Bpifrance, bringing the total raised to $47 million (including seed funding). $25 million of the new round will be dedicated to developing Sigfox networks in 12 new countries in Asia, the Middle East and Africa. iWire will also accelerate the development of its subsidiary ‘iWire Technologies’, which specialises in manufacturing connected devices.
Launched in April 2018, iWire has been a long-standing Sigfox service provider, having deployed a so-called 0G network in the UAE in 2019. Now iWire plans to launch 0G networks based on Sigfox technology in Bahrain, Bangladesh, India, Jordan, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Sri Lanka, Tunisia and Turkey.
It also intends to offer a wide range of connected products such as utility meters, gas sensors, health watch, smart ID, smoke detectors, container trackers and streetlighting solutions – targetted at high-volume verticals such as utilities, smart cities, smart facilities, digital health and smart logistics.
“At iWire, we offer our customers an alternative to legacy connectivity solutions, which enables successful digital transformation at a lower cost of ownership,” said Ahmed Fasih Akhtar, CEO iWire. “Our solutions contribute to our customers’ business efficiencies as well as their satisfaction. This investment is only the beginning of our journey and a great sign that we are on the right track. We are proud to have the trust of such an investor and we will continue expanding our network and our products to transform the digital infrastructure in the region,” he concluded.
Jeremy Prince CEO Sigfox said he was “thrilled” to be working with iWire. “Our unique international network already allows customers to benefit from 0G in a seamless way in 72+ countries,” he said. “The new markets iWire is adding offer tremendous potential and we look forward to a very successful collaboration.”
