In sum – what to know
IoT SaaS expansion – 1NCE raises $60m to enhance AI-driven SaaS platform, scale IoT connectivity solutions, and strengthen US presence; takes its total funding to $160m over eight years.
AI-powered growth – the new funding accelerates its AI-for-IoT adoption, integrating smart data management and AI features to enhance its value and application across industries globally.
Platform position – backed by MNOs Deutsche Telekom and Softbank, 1NCE is among the leading IoT firms to combine cellular IoTroaming, SaaS, and AI to streamline IoT management.
Germany-headquartered IoT MVNO 1NCE has completed its largest funding round to date, raising $60 million to launch new products and features, as well as to grow its presence in the US enterprise market. The firm has raised around $160 million from investors in five countries since 2017. Investors include Deutsche Telekom, iSquared Capital, Kensington Capital Partners, SoftBank, Vicenda Group, plus founder Alexander Sator.
The firm said it is readying a new software as-a-service (SaaS) platform, and will add “new AI tools” besides – “for customers already using the 1NCE OS software for their AI projects”. It stated: “AI growth will fuel adoption of IoT, [as] customers… ramp up data collection to strengthen their AI-driven engines.” MVNOs are no longer just reselling mobile access, but embedding connectivity into software platforms that manage devices, data, and analytics.
Connectivity has become ‘invisible infrastructure’, effectively: bundled and hidden, and managed in software via application programming interfaces (APIs) alongside a bunch of other enterprise fleet management solutions. The value has shifted to how well the data is handled, just as table stakes, and how easily it syncs with enterprises’ broader digital-change projects. Local breakout, data sovereignty, and edge processing are all part of the bargain.
Meanwhile, MVNOs are blending global roaming with localised service delivery, through partnerships, eSIM/iSIM (eUICC/iUICC) support, and cloud-native core networks. The marriage of IoT sensing and AI sense-making has been telegraphed since machine learning (ML) was being engaged for predictive analytics. MVNOs are now layering in AI tools or integrations to support customer use cases. 1NCE is a good example of all of this.
It has claimed a platform-first mindset, from the start, integrating connectivity into a SaaS platform that spans SIM provisioning, device management, and data handling. Its pitch has always been to turn a famously fragmented IoT discipline into a more streamlined experience. Its effectiveness might be judged by the fact full-MNO IoT giants Deutsche Telekom and Softbank have both invested in the firm, and are putting IoT business through it variously.
The subtext to its new funding round is that it will drive this converged MVNO model – connectivity plus software plus intelligence, where the former is effectively subjugated as a utility service to enable the intelligence (and value) to ride over the top in the name of IoT-based AI-based fleet operations. The likes of Eseye, EMnify, and floLIVE are prominent peers and competitors in the global cellular IoT game, doing much the same – just differently.
1NCE claims to have around 24,000 customers, managing around 30 million IoT devices in 170 countries on its platform. The company was founded in 2018, and now employs staff in 30 countries. It has physical branch offices in 11 countries, offering regional sales, billing, distribution and warehousing. It has just recruited Christoph Vilanek, formerly with Freenet, as chairman of its advisory board.
Ivo Rook, co-chief executive at 1NCE, said: “The US is our largest and fastest growing market, and we‘re expanding our American workforce to accelerate our momentum. 1NCE already delivers at an incredibly high quality with consistency and industry-defining endpoint availability of 99.97 percent. This funding further increases our ability to expand our competitive advantage across the world.”
Alexander Sator, founder and co-chief executive at 1NCE, added: “Closing a strong round affirms that we are on the right track for continued success with our next generation SaaS platform.”
