Nowi: Enabling the Internet of Things

1. HOW DID IT ALL START?

Omar Link and Simon van der Jagt founded Nowi in 2015. Our reason to do so was based on a very simple observation: everyone was talking about the Internet of Things and all of the billions of connected devices, but no one was explaining how we were supposed to power all of this. Clearly, changing batteries or wiring power cables would be impossible at this scale. But what was the alternative?

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

Back in 1999 when Kevin Ashton, the executive director of Auto-ID Labs at MIT first used the concept of the Internet of Things, he could not have known that 20 years later it would become a reality. The interconnectivity between the real and the digital world is greater than ever and IoT is fueling innovation in nearly every part of our lives, from turning our homes smart to transforming entire industries.

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

NOWI was selected by a panel comprised of executives from the partners STMicroelectronics, Gore, EBV Elektronik, Würth Elektronik, Gemalto, AiQ Smart Clothing, VARTA Microbattery, Microtronics and Cicor.

NOWI’s innovative solution of energy harvesting continuously brings energy to your device in lieu of wires or batteries. There is energy all around us that can now be converted and used to power IoT devices. 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.

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 IC is integrated in the MMT smart watch module. Nowi’s energy harvesting technology will be used by MMT (a leading Swiss watch manufacturer) to harvest energy from light to power a new model hybrid watch.

https://www.ecnmag.com/product-announcement/2018/08/hybrid-watch-lives-forever-development

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.

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.