KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 9 — Back in April 2015, Tharmaindran K.Gannasin, chief executive officer of BNetworks Sdn Bhd came to PlaTCOM Ventures to get some advice on how to bring their innovation to the market.
For the uninitiated, PlaTCOM Ventures Sdn Bhd is the national technology commercialisation platform of Malaysia. It is a wholly-owned subsidiary company of Agensi Inovasi Malaysia (AIM), formed in collaboration with SME Corporation Malaysia under one of the six High Impact Programmes in the SME Master Plan 2012-2020.
A due diligence was conducted on BNetworks and it was found that the company had the ready working prototype.
However, PlaTCOM found thatthey were facing some challenges in setting up a demo for field testing, market validation, product packaging and regulatory compliance. BNetworks was successfully admitted to PlaTCOM’s High Impact Programme 2 (HIP2) on November 2015, and was able to complete the projects of bWave within 10 months.
About BNetworks and bWave
BNetworks Sdn Bhd is the proud winner of the Emerging Innovation Entrepreneur Award during the Malaysia Commercialisation Year (MCY) 2016 event and the recipient of the Asia Pacific Alliance Awards (APICTA).
BNetworks Sdn Bhd has developed an Internet of Things (IoT) platform called bWave that is set to become a universal IoT solution that promotes convergence by bringing multiple functions into a single solution and controlled with a single interface.
bWave is at the heart of connected home lifestyle and it supports multiple wireless technologies and standards all in a single hub. It allows users to control any connected wireless device via a single interface.
Users can experience the full connected living experience with super intuitive apps that are beautifully designed, seamlessly allowing users to monitor and control their connected home from anywhere, anytime and on any screen.
bWave is an end-to-end solution developed to enable IoT applications across various market verticals. Currently, bWave provides end-to-end wireless solution for Connected Home and Smart Office applications, includes 7-in-1 functions comprising automation, entertainment, intercom, surveillance, security & safety, energy management and climate control (HVAC) by a single hub and unified application for smart phones and tablets.
The hardware has been designed to cater for wireless sensor networks (WSN) applications in residential, healthcare, industrial, commercial and many other markets. The latest version supports surveillance, energy management, security, automation and climate control functions from a single hub with an intuitive user apps.
The bWave hub also has a built-in router capability that can also provide a wifi connection to users. All bWave hubs will be connected to the cloud-based Centralised Subscribers Database System (CSDC) which provides remote monitoring, troubleshooting and system updates.
The project team members have been involved in the development and implementation of home systems for more than 10 years. They are highly experienced in their field and very much aware of the market sentiments, customer expectations and implementation dynamics.
BNetworks’s objective is to develop a universal solution for the mass market that meets the global quality standards, highly affordable, localised for Malaysian and Asian markets, highly scalable but yet diversified for multiple applications.
bWave is a universal gateway communication platform for IoT devices from different technologies such as Zwave, ZigBee, Enocea and Insteon. The company’s target markets include telcos, property developers, smart city authorities and household consumers.
Up to February 2017, BNetworks has partnered with several property developers to provide smart home solutions for new property launches. They have also secured a deal to become an IoT managed services enabler by Smart City developers.
bWave will be available for the mass market via bWave® Authorised Resellers in early 2017. For partnership and purchase enquiry, do visitwww.bwave.co
Market review for IoT
Aligned with the National IoT Strategic Roadmap, bWave is poised to tap heavily into the lucrative global IoT industry.
According to research firm Frost & Sullivan, Malaysia is one of the fastest growing IoT markets in Asean and Asia Pacific with an estimated spending of US$70 million (RM310 million) in 2014. This figure is estimated to reach US$447 million by 2017, growing at a CAGR of 111.5 per cent from 2013.
Malaysia is expected to have 125 million connected devices in 2025 with over 58 million mobile subscribers. The Internet economy (iGDP) market is expected to contribute 16 per cent (US$90 billion) to the GDP by 2025, up from 4.3 per cent in 2010 as the importance of Internet and digitally-connected solutions grows in the economy.
BNetworks is expecting to reach their peak within the next two years. By the middle of 2017, they will be begin to ship their products for the South-east Asia market. As they move towards more commercial successes, they are planning to diversify their solutions within the next five years to suit other IoT market verticals and keep improving user experience with the system.
* Nurhidayah Binti Mohd Akil is Commercialisation Specialist, PlaTCOM Ventures Sdn Bhd.
