Nowi: Enabling the Internet of Things

The last few months have been busy for us at NOWI. Here’s a summary of what we’ve been up to recently. Don’t forget to follow us on LinkedIn, Twitter or check our website for more frequent news.

We announced our collaboration with Huawei

After several months of work with Huawei’s R&D team in Cambridge, UK,  the demo was showcased in Mobile World Congress Shanghai MWC2019 from June 26-28.
The solution employs a Huawei Boudica V150 development board which enables plug and play of various sensors and peripherals alongside the highly integrated V150 NB-IoT SoC and battery charging circuitry based on NOWI’s Ultra-High Efficiency NW-A2.3 PMIC Energy Harvesting device.

We have moved!!!

Our newly designed office with a separate dedicated lab environment is located at Molengraaffsingel 10 – Delft, The Netherlands. The new lab will help us continue testing and developing our energy harvesting PMIC with more advanced equipment.

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We also traveled a lot

Our agenda was filled with business trips across Europe. Oslo, Zurich, London, Cambridge to name a few. As a result, we are looking forward to upcoming partnerships announced in the near future. Also interested in a collaboration with Nowi?

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For more updates, check our social media:

Huawei is showcasing an NB-IoT solution in which energy harvesting is used to power the NB-IoT SoC indefinitely through a new PMIC and attached solar panel. This removes the need for manual intervention (changing batteries) or cabling to supply power in applications which zero maintenance and zero power supply.

The solution employs a Huawei Boudica V150 development board which enables plug and play of various sensors and peripherals alongside the highly integrated V150 NB-IoT SoC and battery charging circuitry based on NOWI’s ultra-high efficiency NW-A2.3 PMIC Energy Harvesting device.

Power has proven to be a bottleneck in the adoption of many IoT applications, with battery maintenance or power cabling reducing the ROI of an IoT system significantly.

• Battery life in many use-cases is shorter than the application life, thus requiring maintenance during system usage and thereby greatly increasing IoT total cost of ownership.
• IoT nodes are typically distributed in remote or difficult to access areas, making cables impossible and changing batteries even more expensive.

NOWI, a new semiconductor company based in the Netherlands, has pioneered novel energy harvesting technology that enables capturing of ambient energy sources such as light, temperature gradients or radio frequency, with the highest efficiency. It has achieved this while at the same time lowering the PCB assembly footprint by 30 times and removing the need for many external components such as inductors. As a result, NOWI’s energy harvesting technology can both power and fit into virtually any small IoT device, or even in RF modems directly, and thereby enables these devices to become ‘Plug & Forget’.

“Huawei is dedicated to achieving a fully connected, intelligent world and as a pioneer in low power wireless chip technology, we see energy harvesting as a key component in achieving ubiquitous connectivity for our customers. We are, therefore excited to be working with NOWI in this area.”

Charles Sturman, Senior Director IoT Product Marketing at Huawei Technologies Ltd

“The Boudica V150 NB-IoT SoC is a market leading IoT communications device integrating modem, radio, power management, application subsystem and dedicated security core in a single chip. With only a few required external components, it enables low system cost and is able to support all of the global NB-IoT frequencies whilst operating direct-from-battery with ultra-low current draw. As such, it is the ideal device to be paired with our breakthrough energy harvesting technology to achieve power autonomy without sacrificing functionality.”

Simon van der Jagt, CEO NOWI

Simon continued; “The low-power design of the Boudica V150 chip together with the high energy harvesting efficiency of the NOWI PMIC make it possible to harvest sufficient energy for frequent NB-IoT transmissions, allowing autonomous connectivity for up to 15 years. That means no more cables or battery changes needed. Simply, Plug & Forget.”

Applications

The combination of low-power connectivity and high performance energy harvesting allows devices to become ‘Plug & Forget’. This has the advantage of eliminating the need for node maintenance and thereby greatly reducing the total cost of ownership of an IoT system. In the following examples this is expected to have a big impact:

Smart Cities: Devices will be placed spread over large areas, making maintenance costly if not impossible. The bulk of Smart City business cases require energy harvesting to be viable. (See more: Pilot project: BAM, T-Mobile and Nowi embed Plug & Forget sensor in roads)

Smart Industry: IoT nodes will be used for tracking and monitoring in various industrial applications. The devices are often placed in dangerous or difficult to reach places, making any form of maintenance problematic

Smart Wearables: Usage of Wearable devices for health purposes require the devices to have a high degree of autonomy. NB-IoT and Energy Harvesting make it possible for the user to have connectivity without a smartphone in close proximity and without having to remember to charge the device frequently. (See more: Collaboration with MMT to develop ‘Plug & Forget’ hybrid watch)

Source: Yahoo Finance

Omar Link and Simon van der Jagt, founders of Nowi have been recognized in Sifted’s list of cutting-edge European innovators. The list features some startups and their life-changing technologies.

“They are all the real deal in terms of innovation. If they succeed, people’s lives will change. A true dent will be made in the universe. Take a peek into the future.”

Sifted

Here is the part featuring Nowi’s founders in the article:

What if your smartwatch worked forever?

There will soon be 30bn connected devices around the world, from smartwatches to traffic sensors. All of them will need power. Nowi has created a small chip which continuously brings energy to a device in lieu of wires or batteries, by using the power that is already available nearby – for example, light, heat, movement or even radio waves. This should enable the creation of products that are either completely batteryless or hybrid battery devices with an extended lifetime. In short, it is set to power the next generation of connected cities and consumer wearables.

Key facts: From Delft, the Netherlands. Founded in 2015. Has raised €2.5m in seed funding.

Sifted is an FT-backed media site for European startups and innovators. Read the full article here.

Dutch semiconductor innovator firm NOWI was awarded first place for its work in solving the power bottleneck in smart devices. NOWI’s innovative solution continuously brings energy to your device in lieu of wires or batteries by using the energy that is already available around the device. This can be light, heat, movement or even radio waves. Taking a form of a small chip that can be used in IoT devices, this technology will enable the creation of products that are either completely batteryless or hybrid battery devices with a greatly extended lifetime.

For consumers, having this technology will save both monetary and environmental costs associated with charging your devices. With predictions that there will soon be over 30 billion connected devices in the world, the requirement for power is only going to soar, so technology like NOWI’s that can help make IoT devices more efficient is becoming ever more significant.

Read more at: Gemalto Blog

2. WHAT ARE THE KEY MILESTONES YOU HAVE REACHED SO FAR?

After a year and a half of prototyping, we have reached a “proof of principle” demo that was good enough to land us €350.000 of government funding. We used this to get to a proof-of-concept, which was a fully functional energy harvesting demo. We then secured a €1.5 Mio VC round to develop this into a first product version. A small chip that makes it extremely easy for any company to power their devices with energy harvesting. Last year, that vision has come to life more and more as it has been used in a pilot project for road monitoring. A Swiss watch manufacturer is also currently implementing it in their next-gen smartwatch.

3. WHAT WERE THE BIGGEST CHALLENGES YOU HAVE FACED IN YOUR JOURNEY?

Any start-up faces at least some of the same challenges. Product-fit, team, and funding. Product-fit can only be achieved by leaving the office and interacting with as many companies as possible. Each conversation provides a bit of feedback which slowly shapes the product solution. We went from a technology-push of energy harvesting technology to a clear market-pull of use-cases where companies absolutely need what we have made. At the same time, we need the brightest minds to help bring this all to live. We have been non-stop recruiting the best talent and we now have a 15-people team with 3 Ph.D.’s and 7 MSc’s, and a combined 30 years of energy harvesting research experience. Finally, all of this needs to be paid for. Fundraising is a continuous effort as a result.

4. WHAT’S COMING IN THE NEAR FUTURE?

For Nowi, 2019 is a very exciting year as our energy harvesting technology is being embraced by the first global companies. The industry is starting to see that energy harvesting is one of the key building blocks in many IoT solutions as it improves the user-experience or reduces the need for maintenance and thereby the cost of ownership. As first, companies deploy this technology, others cannot stay behind. This year, several collaborations between Nowi and other large companies will be announced, and we believe this will act as a catalyst for the rest of the industry.

More details at: Innovation World Cup

With its leading technology in energy harvesting, Nowi has been listed in 10 European IoT startups to watch in 2019 by Eu-Startup, one of the leading online publications with a focus on startups in Europe.

Nowi Energy – The Delft-based startup offers complete sensor platform powered by outside sources such as GSM and WiFi signals, or light and movement, enabling sensors to have an extremely long maintenance-free lifetime and simply become a ‘Plug & Forget’ solution. Nowi’s patented Energy Harvesting PMIC has been recognized worldwide and is a winner of a range of international innovation awards.

More details at: Eu-Startup

This can be light, heat, movement or even radio waves. NOWI technology enables companies to use the energy that is readily available around the device.

With a reputation accumulated over 15 years of successful competitions, the IOT Innovation World Cup® Series is no doubt the largest open innovation platform worldwide for IoT and tech solutions.

Read more at: Business Wire

The Netherlands Enterprise Agency (RVO) has granted NOWI €1 million in funding. The credit will be used to further develop the NOWI Energy Harvesting PMIC technology.

According to CEO Simon van der Jagt, the additional funding from RVO enables Nowi to make its technology market-ready. Nowi is translating its leading technology position in low-power energy harvesting into a small chip that can be used in a wide range of devices. As the Internet of Things begins to mature, it is becoming clear that there are hundreds of millions of so called smart-devices that need to become ‘Plug & Forget’. From smart watches to sensors and asset trackers, all of these devices have started to incorporate energy harvesting technology in order to significantly increase their lifetime and reduce the need for cables and battery changes.

The world will soon have 30 billion connected devices – which require a lot of energy, and now typically rely on limited battery power. The Delft-based startup Nowi is developing a chip that enables IoT devices, such as smart watches and sensors, to live forever.

Founded in 2015, Nowi has received €1 million in funding from RVO, which it will use for the commercialisation of its ‘Energy Harvesting’ technology to provide lasting power sources for IoT devices. The company previously raised €1.5 million from the Disruptive Technology Ventures fund in 2018.

Nowi CEO Simon van der Jagt explains: “Instead of needing to continuously bring energy to your device in the form of batteries or power cables, Nowi technology enables companies to use the energy that is already readily available around the device. This can be light, heat, movement or even radio waves. There is energy all around us that can now be used to power IoT devices.”

With Nowi’s patented technology, it is becoming possible to effectively use these sources to power devices.

More details at: EU-Startups

The Chinese Advanced Semiconductor Association has granted Nowi an innovation award for it’s energy harvesting technology.

former Intel and GE Senior Executive, IASIC Judge Mr Charles Zhang “The NOWI IC is a revolutionary product for the IoT industry, especially for devices like wearables or very power sensitive IoT sensors.  With the ability to capture and process tiny bits of energy from the environment, this innovation can benefit all types IoT sensor devices. The NOWI team did a great job to not only develop this technology but to already be working with customer for the real time deployment. That is why this is a winner.”

https://electroiq.com/2018/11/nowi-receives-prestigious-semiconductor-innovation-award-for-breakout-energy-harvesting-technology/

MMT and Nowi have initiated a collaboration to develop the world’s first ‘Plug & Forget’ watch. A hybrid watch with smart functionalities, such as activity tracking, auto updates and notifications, that never requires user-charging can be achieved when the Nowi Power Module is integrated in the MMT smart watch module.

“The deep experience of MMT in the design of ultra low-power watch modules, combined with Nowi’s breakthrough energy harvesting technology enables a new generation of smart watches.”

MMT CEO Philippe Fraboulet

Innovation enabling a new generation watch

A joint-feasibility study has been conducted by Nowi and MMT, clearly showing that a hybrid watch that will never run out of power can be created.

“Considering as little as 1-hour a day, or 3 to 4 hours on the weekend of direct light, the watch is able to combine a wide range of functionalities, such as step-counting, sleep tracking, notifications and auto-time updates, without ever requiring charging by the user.”

Nowi CEO Simon van der Jagt

In the study a small solar PV cell has been covered by a watch dial. The remaining light that reaches the PV cell through the dial creates a low output Voltage which can be used to power the smart watch. The Nowi IC is able to boost this Voltage, from as low as 40mV, with an unprecedented 92% efficiency.

Opening a new realm of possibilities

Both parties have entered in to a strategic collaboration in which a fully functional watch demonstrator will be developed based on the MMT watch module with Nowi technology inside.

“This non-exclusive collaboration aims to show to the entire smart wearable industry the new realm of possibilities that is opened by new energy harvesting technology and low-power design in smart watches.”

Nowi CEO Simon van der Jagt

Worldwide wearables sales will grow by an average of 20 percent each year over the next five years, becoming a $29 billion market with 243 million unit sales by 2022.

According to industry analyst CCS Insight.

As part of the Wearable Technologies conference in Singapore, Nowi CEO Simon van der Jagt will be presenting how Nowi technology can improve wearable products. The extended lifetime of wearables by the effective use of energy harvesting technology made possible by Nowi improves the value proposition towards the user.

A short 1-minute YouTube video gives you an overview of what we do at Nowi and what the impact of this technology will be

Nowi receives €1.5 million in funding from Disruptive Technology Ventures for the further development of their Energy Harvesting technology and finalization of the Power Module.

Besides this, industry titans such as former KPN telecom CEO Ad Scheepbouwer will actively help the company in the further commercialization of the Nowi sensor technology.

Dutch energy startup Nowi has raised €1.5 million in funding from Amsterdam VC firm Disruptive Technology Ventures.

Nowi is developing a power module for IoT sensors that it claims won’t run out of power.

“By getting energy from WiFi, GSM signals, light and movement that is all around us and effectively harnessing this to power sensors,” explained CEO Simon van der Jagt.

“The Nowi power module eliminates the need for frequent battery changes or impractical cables. Instead it enables any sensor company to use external ambient energy sources and thereby reduce the need for maintenance. We call this Plug & Forget.”

Simon van de Jagt

The new funds will be invested in commercialising the technology. The company is also being advised by Ad Scheepbouwer, the former CEO of Dutch telecom KPN, on bringing the product to market.

“This €1.5 million investment and the experience of the investment team brings this vision a significant step closer to reality,” said van der Jagt.

Source: TechEU

Nowi has received a R&D grant together with Qualinx from ‘Provincie Zuid-Holland‘. The aim is to further develop Nowi’s Power Module and combine this into a demonstrator with Qualinx ultra-low power GPS module.

In this pilot project a temperature sensor that can be embedded in asphalt is being tested. Deploying such sensors can help in predictive maintenance and decrease the amount of salt needed to manage ice covered roads in winter time. The project has been enabled by the creation of an ecosystem of innovation between T-Mobile, BAM and Nowi. Within a few months a larger set of sensors will be deployed in Amsterdam. This development has been supported by Provincie Zuid-Holland.

DEWA is the largest utility company in the UAE. As part of their strategy for a sustainable future in Dubai smart building technology is key. They require maintenance-free temperature sensors in order to long term have a working business model around climate management. Nowi has created a ‘plug & forget’ temperature sensor based on the Nowi Power Module.

As part of a Ducth trade mission to India Nowi has received an honorary Smart CIty Innovation Award from Minister Bert Koenders. Nowi was invited along to present cutting edge technology from the Netherlands. The minister has praised the potential benefits for society resulting from this technology

The Dutch RVO has granted Nowi a loan. The loan is part of a program to help technology startups that have the potential to have significant economic impact. The money will be used to further grow the team and further speed up product development.

The jury from Accenture, ranging from technology experts, business leaders and politicians, has named Nowi the winner of the Accenture Innovation Awards. The global scale of the problem Nowi solves and the strong technology approach in doing so were named as reasons why Nowi was the winner.

Last updated: 04/04/2019

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