Wiliot
Israeli-American technology company
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Wiliot is a startup company developing Internet of Things technology for supply-chains and asset tracking,[3][4] founded in 2017 and based in Caesarea, Israel, with customer operations in San Diego, US.[1][5][6][7]
| |
| Company type | Private |
|---|---|
| Industry | Technology[1] |
| Founded | 2017 in Israel[1] |
| Founders |
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| Headquarters | , |
Area served | Worldwide |
| Products |
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Number of employees | 130 (2022) |
| Website | wiliot |
Wiliot produces battery-free printable sensor tags designed to collect and transmit data from products like groceries, apparel and pharmaceuticals from their sources to stores and homes.[1][8] The company company generates revenue through licensing its cloud software.[9]
History
Wiliot was founded in 2017 by Tal Tamir, Yaron Elboim, and Alon Yehezkely, following the sales of their previous startup Wilocity to Qualcomm in 2014.[6]
In 2019, Williot closed a $30 million series B round of funding from Amazon, Avery Dennison, Samsung and its previous series A investors Norwest Venture Partners, 83North Venture Capital, Grove Ventures, Qualcomm Ventures, and M Ventures.[10] Other early investors include PepsiCo, NTT Docomo Ventures, and Vintage Investment Partners.[6]
In 2021 Wiliot raised $200 million in a series C funding round led by SoftBank Vision Fund 2 and backed by all previous investors.[6][11]
Technology
Wiliot's tags, called IoT Pixels, are a postage stamp-sized printed computer that powers itself by harvesting the energy from surrounding Wi-Fi, cellular and Bluetooth radio signals.[6] The IoT Pixel tags have sensors for temperature, fill level, motion, location changes, humidity, and proximity.[11] The tags cost less than 10 cents a piece.[12]
The IoT Pixel includes an ARM Cortex-M0+ processor core, Bluetooth Low Energy connectivity, 1 kB of non-volatile memory, and antennas for Bluetooth and energy harvesting.[13] Dual-band models include connectivity in the ISM bands.[13]
In June 2022, Wiliot launched a business card-sized battery-assisted version of the IoT Pixel providing continuous connectivity.[14]
Data from the sensors is fed into a Wiliot Cloud server, where algorithms help its customers make decisions through a software as a service subscription.[6]
As of 2022, Wiliot is the assignee of 66 patents that relate to harvesting energy from very weak sources, running a computer element on tiny amounts of energy, producing a computer element in a thin, flexible form factor and the cloud services that enable sensing from such a system.[15]
Applications
Wiliot's tags are designed for use in the many crates that agriculture shippers use to get their products to markets.[1] The tags can provide information about the safety of the journey and the condition of perishable goods, to manage inventory and reduce waste.[11][6] Its first large public customer was Israeli supermarket chain Shufersal in June, 2022.[1][16]
The Japan Research Institute has experimented with reducing food loss throughout the food supply chain from producers to stores and in consumers’ homes by visualizing product information using Wiliot's tags.[8]
The company reportedly aims to extend more broadly to sectors like pharmaceuticals and apparel[1] Their tags can sense when a consumable is nearing end of life, or when a non-perishable consumable is almost used up, or how many washings a garment has been given.[11]
Recognition
Wiliot has received the following awards and recognition:
- Winner of the 2019 CableLabs Innovation Showcase[17]
- Winner of the FDA’s Low- or No-Cost Food Traceability Challenge 2021[18]
- Frost & Sullivan’s 2022 North American Battery-free Bluetooth Low Energy Tag Technology Innovation Leadership Award[19]
- Frost & Sullivan's 2022 European Passive BLE-based IoT Solutions Customer Value Leadership Award[19]
- 2022 SXSW Innovation Awards Finalist in the Smart Cities, Transportation & Delivery category[20]
