SUCCESS STORIES

Introduction

Since the FIWARE re search and innovation programme was established in 2011, a number of advanced techno-logies supporting the development of innovative services and applications in the Future Internet domain have been designed and implemented by major European indust-ry stake holders. In this context, various so-called FIWARE ­Generic­ and­ Specific­ Enablers­ have­ been­ developed­ to­provide the required networking features and make them available for integration with innovative Internet services and applications. By following this approach, future service and app lication providers can focus on developing their specific­ ­features­ ­while­ for­ other­ common­ Future­ Internet­ functionalities they can rely on FIWARE Enablers and simply integrate their own developments with FIWARE to create complete ready-for- market solutions.

About 1,000 innovative startups and SMEs took the oppor-tunity­ offered­ by­ the­ ­FIWARE­ Accelerate­ programme­ and­performed their own Future Internet product development by­using­­FIWARE­Generic­and­Specific­Enablers.­Accordingly,­a large number of new FIWARE- enabled Future Inter net pro-ducts have been success fully crea ted and tested. Among all the companies which developed FIWARE-enabled services and­ applications,­ a­ significant­ number­ of­ them­ already­gained attention from potential investors or have entered the market.

Within the overall FIWARE programme, the FI Business project has focused on providing support to startups and SMEs in identifying business opportunities for their FIWARE enabled products and for approaching potential investors they need to launch or enlarge their business. Concrete ly, the FI Business project organized a number of boot camps, e- pitches, investment forums, business workshops, and matchmaking events including one-to-one consulting ser-vice for start ups.

In the scope of its project activities, FI Business conti nuously monitored the progress of start ups/SMEs in the FIWARE Accelerate programme. A number of these companies had not only successfully developed technical solutions and ­products,­but­had­already­launched­their­commer­cial­offe-rings.

This brochure presents some selected Future Internet Business Success Stories, companies which successfully participated in the FIWARE Accelerate programme and had already made promising steps towards estab lishing them-selves with their FIWARE- enabled products and services on the market. These success stories document the variety of sectors and applications as well as the innovative spirit of European­startups.­We­hope­readers­will­find­these­success­stories interesting and inspiring.

2 of 16­pages

3 of 16­pages

BeeZon

BeeZon Smart Software IoT Solutions was founded in 2015. It is a Greek company that intends to bring the power of the Internet of Things to real life. The main company pro-duct focuses on agriculture, where related production pro-cesses­could­be­significantly­enhanced­by­using­capabilities­of today and future electronic devices and communications networks. The particular company focus is on beekeepers, to enable remote control of their apiaries and help them make smart management decisions, while interacting with the bees as little as possible.

The­ BeeZon­ team­ consists­ of­ five­members­ having­more­than ten years of experience in software and hardware de-velopment as well as business administration. Their passi-on and environmental consciousness has allowed BeeZon to create strong products that appeal to the needs of both the era of sustainable agriculture and the competitive mar-ket in agriculture.

Being environmentally aware and passionate with bees, BeeZon­ explored­ the­ difference­ that­ could­ be­ made­ through technology and IoT in apiculture (beekeeping). Climate change, including relatively high temperatures over­winter­periods­and­intense­rainfalls,­has­affected­the­entire eco system and especially beekeeping. The timing of­ ­nectar-flows­ is­unstable,­and­ the­natural­ resources­are­scarce. Therefore, the bees can be starving or dying so that professional beekeepers could lose their entire bee populations within a short time. In order to sustain their business, the bee keepers are forced to practice migratory beekeeping,­ hunting­nectar­ flows­ across­ large­ geographi-cal areas based on past experience only, requiring more

personnel re sources involved, transportation, losses of whole bee colonies, etc.

To respond to these needs, BeeZon developed a solution for a Virtual Bee Consultant called “BeeZon Real-Time Continuous Apiary Monitoring System”, using FIWARE tech-

Virtual Bee Consultant

was developed in

FIWARE

BeeZon team

4 of 16­pages

nology. BeeZon’s continuous monitoring system brings the power of the Internet of Things to the area of beekeeping by following precision apiculture methodologies. Thus, the beekeepers may have an insight of the colony’s status and dynamics in order to increase productivity and decrease operational costs.

In summary, the Virtual Bee Consultant enables beekeepers to continuously gather real-time data, providing remote monitoring and control over the following aspects:

• Time­management­of­nectar­flows

• Insight on colony status, colony dynamics and colony hygiene

• Inspection of queen-less and swarming states

• Food storage reserves’ management

• Anti-theft mechanism and tracking system

• Notification­system­tailor­made­by­the­user

BeeZon Monitoring status and colony dynamics

5 of 16­pages

BeeZon software integrates FIWARE technologies, its cloud services and wi-reless sensor capabilities. A network of wireless sensors is deployed in an area of beekeeping interest, measuring both colony and environmental variables and transmitting them for further analysis to the Beezon platform via Internet. The knowledge of FIWARE technologies has become an important asset for the com-pany, which can be used in future pro-jects and business activities.

The FIWARE Accelerate programme has been strategically important for BeeZon, as

it provided an open technology ecosystem enabling the develop ment of the Virtual Bee­Consultant.­The­tools­offered­by­FIWA-RE were very helpful in the development of the BeeZon platform. Further more, the fact that no equity funding was re quired in the FIWARE programme was of great importan-ce for BeeZon.

Although Beezon is very young in the preci sion apiculture market, a substantial market penetra tion has already been achieved. Negotiations with 47 poten-tial customers have been started in ad-dition to 33 already existing customers. In

BeeZon tracking system

BeeZon mobile interface

BeeZon software

integrates several

FIWARE technologies

The FIWARE

Accelerate programme

has been strategically

important for BeeZon

6 of 16­pages

addition, BeeZon is in talks with a global partner to create synergies­ via­ an­ intended­ service­ to­ be­ offered­ on­ large­ scale in the future.

The FI-Business project provided valuable means for continuous improvement in several business related topics through workshops, seminars, investor pitching, and

coaching sessions. Furthermore, BeeZon’s participa tion in a wide European network such as the FIWARE ecosystem provided an opportunity to be exposed to a wide audience of promising startups, top industry professionals, lea-ding experts, successful entrepreneurs, and international investors.

Interaction with

FIWARE community

contributed to team’s

skills’ enrichment and

greater exposure

14

[--BOXSTART--]

BeeZonsoftwareintegratesseveralFIWAREtechnologies.

[--BOXEND--]

BeeZonsoftwareintegratesFIWAREtechnologies,itscloudservicesandwirelesssensorcapabilities.Anetworkofwirelesssensorsisdeployedinanareaofbeekeepinginterest,measuringbothcolonyandenvironmentalvariablesandtransmitting themfor furtheranalysis to theBeezonplatformviaInternet.TheknowledgeofFIWAREtechnologieshasbecomean importantassetforthecompany,whichcanbeusedinfutureprojectsandbusinessactivities.

[VirtualBeeConsultantandFIWAREtechnologies]

[--BOXSTART--]

TheFIWAREAccelerateprogrammehasbeenstrategicallyimportantforBeeZon.

[--BOXEND--]

TheFIWAREAccelerateprogrammehasbeen strategically important forBeeZon,as itprovidedanopen technology ecosystem enabling the development of the Virtual Bee Consultant. The toolsofferedbyFIWAREwereveryhelpfulinthedevelopmentoftheBeeZonplatform.Furthermore,thefact thatnoequity fundingwasrequired in theFIWAREprogrammewasofgreat importance foraBeeZon.

Virtual Bee Consultant and FIWARE technologies

7 of 16­pages

Breeze

Breeze was founded in Germany in 2015 by Robert Heinecke (CEO), Sascha Kuntze (CTO), and Jan Rübbelke (Head of Embedded Electronics). As air pollution is one of the biggest challenges of modern life, Breeze focuses on helping various stake holders and communities, such as corporate organizations and cities, to understand what is happening in the air around­ them,­ how­ it­ affects­ employees­and citizens, and what can be done to improve the overall air pollution situa-tion. Breeze’s motivation is based on the fact that, according to the World Health Organization, air pollution causes more than seven million deaths every year. The annual economic damage to the Euro pean Union alone is estimated at more than 1.4 trillion euro annually.

In FIWARE, Breeze has developed an innovative cloud plat-form able to gather and analyse large amounts of available data on the air quality in real time. Based on the gathered data,­ the­ ­platform­ provides­ visualization­ and­ notification­capabilities as well as insights and behavioural suggestions, which can be accessed and used by interested stakeholders and communities. The platform customers receive access via a yearly subscription model, together with option to use Bree-ze’s own IoT-enabled next-generation air quality sensors. In addition, with its Adaptive Cloud Calibration algorithms, Breeze is also able to increase measurement accuracy com-pared with other available solutions in the area.

The Breeze analytics suite for smart cities is built upon several FIWARE components. Some of them are used in development and testing, some of them in the live environ-ment. Cloud APIs are realized with the de-facto standard NGSI using Orion. The openData platform CKAN is used to publish and consume environmental data for the public, whereas­ the­CitySDK­data­ ­models­define­how­we­ interact­with the data generated by the city’s cyber physical system.

Breeze is already working together with a number of German companies on deploying and testing next- generation air quality monitoring networks and is part of several smart

Breeze team

Cloud platform,

based on FIWARE

components

to gather and analyze

data on air quality

8 of 16­pages

building and smart city initiatives, including Fraunhofer IAO’S Morgenstadt initiative, which aims to shape the future of cities.

Breeze participated in the Green Innovation and Invest-ment Forum on the invitation, organized by the FI Business project. At these occasions, it was possible to establish new relations­to­other­startups­in­similar­fields­and­present­the­Breeze solution to interested stakeholders.

Breeze is part of

the Fraunhofer IAO

Morgenstadt initiative

FI Business events

helped to establish

new relations

Breeze user interface

9 of 16­pages

Future Intelligence LTD (FINT)

FUTURE INTELLIGENCE LTD (short name FINT) is a telecoms engineering company offering­ an­ integrated­ suite­ of­ ­remote­ management solutions for devices in Smart City and Smart Agriculture environ-ments with wireless media and tele metry applications. Future Intelligence is an SME, founded in 2009 in Athens, Greece, with facilities in Ioannina and an R&D Lab and Cloud Infrastructure in Heraklion, Crete (both in Greece). Since 2012, FINT also has­ an­ office­ in­ London,­ UK,­ where­ all­ advanced Telecom Engineering services provided by FINT are released.

Since 2014, FINT has been introducing an innovative platform for remote and wireless based sensor and actuator management that can gather and process data in typical industrial, urban, and rural environments. Furthermore, FINT is the only company in Greece that manufactures, maintains, and provides integrated solu-tions for outdoor lighting management, such as the Smart City application called FINoT LIGHTING. In addition, FINT solutions conform to all relevant international standards of manufacturing,­­safety,­and­quality,­and­offers­to­its­custo-mers worldwide one of the most competitive and holistic solutions in the area.

In the FIWARE programme, FINT developed an innovati-ve platform for the agricultural sharing economy called QUalitative HOrticulture MArketplace (QUHOMA), which enables building of a community involving various stake-holders focused on quality and sustainable farming. Typical community members are farmers, mentors/ agronomists helping the farmers with advices based on data shared ­within­QUHOMA,­and­quality­certification­bodies­from­the­agriculture sector. In this way, the QUHOMA enables various types of business-to-business services of common interests to be exchanged among the entire community and along the entire value chain.

FINT teamUsing FIWARE

technology, FINT

developed a

quali ta tive horti­

culture marketplace

(QUHOMA)

10 of 16­pages

WHY QUHOMA ?To exploit Greece’s and Europe’s excellent potential for qualitative horticulture products

HOW DOES IT WORK ?The­QUHOMA­platform­acquires­on-field­data­from­so-­called­Agri­ nodes­ deployed­ in­ the­ fields,­ mines­ open­ data­ from­

existing public weather stations, and engages involved com-munity members (mentors, farmers) to upload and share their additional data. QUHOMA analyses and consolidates all gathered data which are transformed into exchange-able services, available for the community members, in the FIWARE marketplace.

Farm monitoring by QUHOMA

These services include:

• Data-driven production for ­efficient­­cultivations­

• Removal of non-value ad-ded processes and source materials

• Effective­commercializa­tion­of agricultural products

• Risk reduction

• Convenient monitoring and remote controling of the cultivation

• Transition of physical com-modities (data and services) to the digital era

• Traceability, accessibility, brand-loyalty, reputation, and data/services reusability

11 of 16­pages

FOR WHOM ?The QUHOMA platform primarily targets farmers and agronomists/mentors and all agri-stakeholders whose main priority is quality for the end-products as well as for the applied practices during land’s cultivation.

While developing the QUHOMA, FINT extensively collabo-rated with FIWARE developers and integrated 13 FIWARE

Generic Enablers in its solution. Even though FIWARE was not in a commercial phase at that stage, some of the Generic Enablers used were in a very mature and stable status, and in this way contributing to the vision of an open-source Euro pean Future Internet Community based on open inter-faces available for development of various application and services based on FIWARE. Thanks to FIWARE,

a widely compatible

QUHOMA solution

was established

FIWARE / QUHOMA market place

12 of 16­pages

QUHOMA-FIWARE integration

13 of 16­pages

The wide compatibility of the FIWARE components en ables QUHOMA application to complement or to be comple-mented by other applications (WStores and WMar ket places) that­target­different­layers­of­demand-side­smart­­­farming­solutions­(e. g.­retail,­supply­chain­etc.).

Currently, QUHOMA has engaged four early adopters and has received interest from additional 20 potential customers. A number of potential investors, introduced by FI­Business­projects,­will­observe­QUHOMA­official­deploy-ment­in­early­2017­for­the­final­assessment­towards­more­significant­investments­in­the­developed­product.­Further-more, process of rising additional capital directly from market and from various R&D sources is ongoing.

FINT participated in some of the events and boot camps, or-ganized by FI Business project, which helped the company to team with several investors whose insights were very use-ful for QUHOMA pitching process and its overall vision. In addition, FINT used these opportunities to get familiar with ideas from other participants of the FIWARE programme, which opened further potential cooperation opportunities and synergies with various stakeholders of advanced EU IoT scheme.

QUHOMA has engaged

four early adopters

and has received

interest from many

further potential

customers

The FI Business

project helped FINT to

team up with a couple

of investors

14 of 16­pages

Mermix

Mermix was founded in March, 2015 in Greece, by Christos Stamatis (CEO) and Giannis Stoitsis (CTO). Currently, there are three full-time and two part-time employees in the company.

Mermix has already been recognised as highly promising in the Greek start up community and recently won the 3rd prize in a competition with 1,200 start ups at the Youth Entrepreneur ship Contest in Greece. In addition, mermix has been­accepted­to­attend­a­specific­accelerator­­programme­in the Netherlands and recently signed a contract with the Dutch Embassy in Greece, allowing the mermix team to attend mentoring and coaching lessons.

Mermix is based on a sharing economy model, a model that­has­been­reporting­significant­growth­during­ the­ last­ years, in sectors such as accommodation and transpor-tation. Farmers can also easily adopt this model, as they usually share their tools and machinery in combination with provision of various related services.

In accordance with the mermix mission to improve the agricul-tural world by connecting farmers and help them organize and

exploit­better­their­assets,­mermix­is­the­first­online­sharing­platform for agricultural machinery to be used for the bene-fit­of­both­farmers­and­machinery­­owners.­By­using­the­plat-form,­ farmers­can­easily­find­ ­suitable­ ­machinery­and­rent­ it­for­the­required­time­period.­Thus,­significant­costs­related­to­purchasing machinery can be avoided. On the other hand, the

Cristos Stamatis Giannis Stoitsis Vasileios Tsantilis Thomai GiotopoulouCEO CTO Developer Operations Coordinator

Mermix: an online

sharing platform for

agricultural machinery

15 of 16­pages

machinery­owners­can­gain­from­renting­it­to­the­farmers,­e. g.­ during the periods they do not need the machinery, to increase overall­efficiency­of­ the­machinery­exploitation­by­ renting­ it­through the easy to access sharing platform. The Mermix has been developed as both web and mobile application.

The mermix solution was developed using the FIWARE tools and Generic Enablers as well as the FISPACE platform. All these tools helped to establish mermix as a very competitive solution for farmers’ everyday needs.

Thus, with FIWARE and Mermix things were made simple. The platform users and customers can easily observe where and when the particular agricultural machinery is available or needed, of course by locations of both farmers requiring the machinery and the machinery owners. Thus, by using the platform,­a­user­can­filter­machines­based­on­type,­cultiva-tion, or location by considering information available in an interactive map and specifying a wished radius of potential machinery locations.

FIWARE helped

to establish a very

competitive solution

The mermix application was introduced recently in the Greek market as a new service, and the number of its users already reached 1,000, including a substantial collaboration with Stevia Hellas Coop, whose members use mermix for their internal machinery sharing. It is estimated that until­ the­ end­ of­ 2018­ the­ 10 %­ of­ Greek­ market­ of­ approxi mately one million farmers will use mermix at least one time during the three stages of the cultivation process. Until 2018, overall investment in mermix will reach 750,000 euro, where as the expected turnover for the period is two million euros. To achieve its goals, mermix established two important partnerships; with a large insurance company and a bank.

The mermix team took part in the FIWARE Bootcamp in Athens 2015, organized by the FI Business project, taking the opportunity of presenting the mermix business ideas in front of investors and other interested stakeholders. Mentoring and coaching as well as further helpful advice on presenting their ideas to the investors were provided by the FI Business project.

FIWARE mentoring

was important

for presenting ideas

to investors

This document has been written by members of the FI Business project consortium based on the inputs received from the four organizations presented in the brochure. The FI Business project has received funding by the European Commission’s FP7 Programme under the grant agreement­number­632819.

mermix will be used

by 100,000 farmers

in Greece until 2018