4 February 2016 | New, Major Functionalities with AdTag 5.6

The new version of ADTAG now includes new, major functionalities to allow our clients (municipalities, transport authorities, airports, shopping malls…) to massively manage hundreds of thousands of beacons, always with maximum contextualization and individualization.

A year ago, we added Bluetooth beacons to our IoT AdTag platform. Since then, we led a continuous stream of works to fine tune the integration of these new and very promising type of beacons. Our development efforts resulted in crafting state-of-the-art management tools both in terms of user experience and technical functionalities.

With AdTag 5.6, it is now easier to set up differentiated content of apps notifications and actions, across several applications having integrated our Mobile SDK to interact with one given beacon. As a result, a set of different applications attached to a precise location/territory (e.g transport, cultural, tourist applications related to a given city or area) can now interact with all bluetooth beacons deployed across the territory and still propose specific user experiences while in mobility.

« With AdTag 5.6, we keep improving our platform ability to manage large amount of connected points and their related data/infos” highlights Jean-Noël Barneron, Connecthings Chief Product Officer. « Our product improvements are directly inspired by the user feedbacks we constantly gathered from our clients and partners. We aim at building a platform both intuitive and efficient, helping our clients to focus their resources on maximizing their customers’ experience - and not on technology.”

The functionality  « My Connected Points Cart » now available in AdTag 5.6 illustrates our product motto as it allows the platform user, on the basis of its own selection of connected points, to execute simple and basic actions such as “create a beacon network” (2 clicks), update redirects (1 click) or easily apply complex smart redirects.

To note : AdLinker, our proprietary application for beacons deployment and maintenance is now entirely integrated in AdTag 5.6. The settings of AdLinker are administrated directly from AdTag via application profiles.

More about AdTag, please contact us at: [email protected]

25 January 2016 | Bologna Airport chooses Connecthings’ Internet of Things Platform

Bologna Airport – ranked 7th largest airport in Italy in passenger traffic – will deploy Connecthings’s integrated solution for bluetooth beacons and NFC tags. It will provide a dynamic, hyper-contextualized mobile service to the 19 000 travelers flowing daily through the airport.

«Connecthings innovative solution will allow us to create new ways of interactions between our BLQ Bologna application and the dozens of installed, connected beacons within the airport – hence improving our customers’ dedicated information services.” says Silvia Lombardi, IT & Innovation Manager de Bologna Airport.  «Via our digital services, we aim to engage with all our travelers and visitors.  Access to the airport and orientation in the airport can be now greatly, simply facilitated using the mobile devices everybody’s using. The choice of this solution is also a confirmation of Bologna Airport strategy to improve passengers’ services quality based on innovative and technologically advanced tools.»

Connecthings will deploy bluetoooth beacons, NFC tags and QR codes at various locations in Bologna Airport. Integration of Connecthings Mobile SDK within BLQ Bologna Airport application will allow Bologna Airport team to interface and program different actions (notifications, alerts, redirects) from Connecthings AdTag content management platform.

«Bologna Airport immediately sized the advantages of creating synergies between the different contactless technologies – hence adding value to their existing application and 2016 future application. Bluetooth beacons will boost application usage whereas NFC tags and QR codes will trigger application dowloading.» highlights Clémence Barret, Italy Business Development Director.

Bologna Airport annually welcomes 7 million passengers. Bologna Airport is ranked 7th largest Italian airport.

25 January 2016 | Connecthings awarded Best IoT Start-up by Ericsson

Ericsson IoT Challenge Grand Final took place January 21, 2016 at Ericsson France Headquarters in Massy. Ericsson had chosen to focus the Challenge on the possibilities of its Zero Site smart lighting solution.

168 participants, 26 startups entered the competition. The jury was composed of: Sándor Albrecht, Ericsson Research Director ; Michel Liotard, Ericsson IoT expert; Denis Rousset , COO of Com4Innov and Ariel Gomez, Chief Editor for Journal of Telecoms, IT for Business and Journal of connected things.

Connecthing was awarded Best IoT Start-up. It will benefit from the technical and international business expertise of Garage Ericsson (Kista, Sweden).

“During this Challenge, we have expertised many ambitious projects. All of them testify of the many talents and great ideas happening here in France, dedicated to improve society thanks to the opportunities created by the Internet of Things and the networked society. We are proud to support young entrepreneurs and promising students who will benefit from our technical and business experts. » says Franck Bouétard, CEO of Ericsson France.

Sandrine Murcia, GM Connecthings & Franck Bouétard, CEO Ericsson France

14 January 2016 | Connecthings Corp. is now up and running from New York City!

“It’s very exciting to wish you all a happy New Year from our brand new office in New York City” says Laetitia Gazel Anthoine, CEO and Founder of Connecthings. “This is a major step to fulfill our promise to build the global network of the Internet of Public Things. I’m leading the development of Connecthings Corp., from New York and building the US team to support our plan. This is a long term investment and it demonstrates how serious and committed Connecthings is to deploy its open beacons platform in the US specifically, but also in North & South Americas.”

Connecthings has already strong contacts in New York, where it won in March ’15 the prestigious App Quest 3.0 organized by the New York State’s Metropolitan Transportation Authority. “We have received in the past year many requests and invitations from top US metropoles and large municipalities - adds Gazel Anthoine - Being now physically in the US will be tremendously helpful to support our expansion.”

Connecthings connects the urban, passive physical world to relevant digital content, making objects active and enabling them to communicate directly with the citizens’ smartphones. Connecthings’ platform is open for cities, transport, brands. And most important, it is open to a larger ecosystem of innovators, developers who are now shaping the next generation of smart city services.

17 November 2015 | Connecthings awarded Most Innovative Apps for Transport by the Smart City Expo World Congress

Connecthings has won the call for Most Innovative Apps in Transport sector awarded by the 2015 Smart City Expo World Congress.

Connecthings has developed for Barcelona City Hall called an innovative service “Barcelona Contactless” based on Connecthings’ Internet of Public Things Saas platform.

Launched a year ago, “Barcelona Contactless”, at the heart of the “BCN Smart City” initiative, is a city-wide service offering dynamic mobile information to citizens and visitors where and when they need it through various contactless technologies, including NFC (one-touch access to digital content) and gathering more than 20 public and private actors data and public spaces.

More than 3000 transport street furnitures, including Metropolitan Transports of Barcelona Metro, bus stops and bike-sharing station BICING, have been equipped with contactless technologies and have shown great adoption by citizens: connections have increased by 350% in 9 months, from February to October 2015.

The service will be showcased live at the Smart City Plaza during the whole event and will be presented the 19th of November at 10.30am in the Speaker’s Corner.

Connecthings, leader of the Internet of Public Things, present in 20 Europena cities and in Rio de Janeiro, holds its professional stand on Street D Stand 4485, Innovation Zone, Barcelona City Council.

Come and stop by!

Please contact us at [email protected]

16 November 2015 | Come & Meet Connecthings, Leader of the Internet of Public Things, at Smart City Expo World Congress

Smart City Expo World Congress is the world’s leading event shaping the present and future of cities and urban innovation. This year, over 440 cities from 90 countries, more than 11,0000 visitors will congregate,

Connecthings, leader of the Internet of Public Things, present in 20 Europena cities and in Rio de Janeiro, will hold its professional stand on Street D Stand 4485, Innovation Zone, Barcelona City Council.

We will also show case our key Smart City projects and most recent innovations at theSpeaker’s Corner, 19th of November at 10.30 am.

Come and stop by! Looking forward to meeting you all.

Please contact us at [email protected]

16 November 2015 | Come & Meet Connecthings, Leader of the Internet of Public Things, at Smart City Expo World Congress

Smart City Expo World Congress is the world’s leading event shaping the present and future of cities and urban innovation. This year, over 440 cities from 90 countries, more than 11,0000 visitors will congregate,

Connecthings, leader of the Internet of Public Things, present in 20 Europena cities and in Rio de Janeiro, will hold its professional stand on Street D Stand 4485, Innovation Zone, Barcelona City Council.

We will also show case our key Smart City projects and most recent innovations at the Speaker’s Corner, 19th of November at 10.30 am.

Come and stop by! Looking forward to meeting you all.

Please contact us at [email protected]

4 November 2015 | Welcome Sandrine Murcia, Global Director for Strategic Partnerships & Marketing @connecthings

Sandrine Murcia joins Connecthings to lead global strategic partnerships & marketing programs. Before Connecthings, Sandrine was Google’s Director of Marketing in Europe in charge of Consumer Products & Customers Acquisition Strategy. Recently, Sandrine was co-founder of Spring Lab, consultancy agency specialized in innovation & digital transformation.

« I’m thrilled to join Connecthings, an innovative company which succeeded in a very short time to establish itself as the European leader of the Internet of Public Things. The original vision of L. Gazel Anthoine, CEO, has proven right to the leading European municipalities, in the field of smart cities. This is very exciting to join Connecthings to help accelerate its development, in particular in the US. » says Sandrine Murcia.

Sandrine is in charge of strategic partnerships and marketing programs designed to scale globally Connecthings’ open beacons Saas platform.

Sandrine holds a bachelor engineering degree from INSA Lyon and a MBA from Kellogg Chicago.

15 October 2015 | With more than 3 million usage hits in 1 year, Connecthings travelers’ service keeps on skyrocketing in Bordeaux

One year after the introduction in Bordeaux of Connecthings’ innovative solution, “Real time TBC”, usage figures prove massive adoption by travelers, hence satisfaction.

Connecthings’ Smart stickers connect the network of 3,500 bus and tramway stations in Bordeaux-Métropole and allow travelers to get real-time transport schedules on their smartphones, via QR code or NFC.

The associated mobile services also help to know availabilities of bike stations nearby or any traffic disturbance in real time.

In 1 year, more than 3 million mobile consultations have been carried out from “Real time TBC” service representing more than 1.5 million connections by over 150,000 unique users.

Connecthings’s Real Time TBC is widely used by all types of mobile phones: Android, iOS (resp. 52% and 40% of connections).  NFC connection rate is greater than 15%.

This innovative service was presented to visitors and foreign delegations at the 22nd Intelligent Transport Systems (ITS) World Congress, held in Bordeaux from October 5th to 9th.

6 October 2015 | Beacon Hub Platform of @Connecthings, Semi-finalist of @Cisco #IoT #Innovation Grand Challenge

 

Connecthings was selected by Cisco in its global competition “IoT Innovation Grand Challenge” from more than 3.000 companies. This challenge aims at recognizing companies able to build IoT-disrupting solutions.

With less than 1% of things in the physical world connected to the Internet, there is an incredible opportunity to connect the unconnected, creating vast opportunities to transform businesses & cities. Cisco selected 15 IoT pioneer startups worldwide with most breakthrough technologies leveraging the Internet of Things. Winners will be announced in December during the IoT World Forum in Dubai.

10 September 2015 | Connecthings Raises $10.6 Million For Beacon Platform and Network Development in the United States.

Connecthings carries out a new fundraising of 10.6 million Dollars (9.5 million Euros) from Xerys Funds and its first round investors - Siparex and Calao Finance, for its expansion in the United States.

Leader of the Internet of Public Things, with a presence in over 20 cities in Europe and Brazil, Connecthings has announced the closing of the Series-B-funding round for its business development in the USA.

Connecthings develops a global platform to animate the Internet of Public Things. This cloud-based beacon management platform - iBeacon (Bluetooth Low Energy), NFC tags, QR codes and WiFi - connects the physical and digital worlds by orchestrating the interactions between urban objects and any smartphones or wearables devices. Connecthings implements its beacons in the world’s largest and smartest cities, especially present in Rio de Janeiro, Madrid, Barcelona, Bordeaux, Nice.

« This new fundraising of 10.6 million Dollars is a key step in our development that will strengthen our position as industry leader by penetrating the North American market. With the confidence of our investors and the dynamism of our teams, we will continue to build the global network of the Internet of Public Things in the Smart Cities, » said Laetitia Gazel Anthoine, President of Connecthings.

This investment is part of the logic of the Xerys Funds, which invest only in companies with high growth potential. « The successful development of Connecthings in Europe and the strong fundamentals of the company indicate that Connecthings will be able to transform the economy of the Smart Cities, » explains Jacques Simonnet, President of Xerys.

« Siparex supports Connecthings since 2012 and confirms its commitment with a new investment », says Andreas Gall at Siparex Proximité Innovation and board member of Connecthings. « By developing its global platform as early as 2007, Connecthings pioneered by understanding before anyone else the enormous market potential of the Internet of Things and its Smart City applications. Indeed, according to several studies, the number of connected objects is expected to average 80 billion in 2020, compared with only 1 billion 5 years ago, » adds Rodolphe Herbelin, Partner and Co-founder of Calao Finance.

About Connecthings
Connecthings, the European leader in the Internet of Public Things, connects the city and its citizens. The SAAS tags and beacons management platform provides services in over 20 cities on two continents. It manages interaction points (NFC, QR, Beacons, WiFi) and their associated context-based services: Proximity mobile services, coupons, smartphones notifications. Connecthings is based in Paris, Barcelona, Milan, Berlin and Rio de Janeiro.
Press contact: [email protected] - www.connecthings.com
Financial Advisor: Multeam www.multeam.fr

About Xerys Funds
Xerys Gestion is a portfolio management company specialized in private equity, which places the company’s project at the very core of its investment philosophy, in order to support backed executives in all stages of their business growth, from venture capital to maturity. Xerys supports a limited number of companies, selected according to a rigorous process about the strength of their fundamentals, their high growth potential and the qualities of their leaders.
Contact: [email protected] – www.xerys.com

About Siparex
Siparex Group, created 37 years ago, is the French independent specialist in SMEs private equity. The Group reports managed capital of € 1.5 billion, spread between ”Midmarket” business, “Regional Investment” and “Innovation” under Xange brand (growing technology SMEs). Siparex covers France and also has offices in Madrid, Milan and Munich. www.siparex.com

About CALAO Finance
CALAO Finance is an independent private equity management company. Founded and directed by Eric GAILLAT and Rodolphe HERBELIN, the company brings together a team of around twenty investment professionals and industries experts. The funds advised or managed by CALAO FINANCE participate in the financing of almost fifty French companies, mainly on two major topics: on the one hand, the art of living including luxury, on the other hand, strategic activities such as energy efficiency. CALAO FINANCE received the 2014 MORNINGSTAR Award “Emerging Manager Best Practices” in the category real asset/ private equity. www.calaofinance.com

25 June 2015 | WELCOME TO THE FUTURE! TRAVELING ONLY WITH YOUR MOBILE IN VALENCIA @connecthings

Lot of European cities dreamed about it, Valencia did it. You can now travel throughout the city with only a mobile in your pocket:  pay and validate your bus ticket with your mobile phone, touch the transit stop to when next bus is coming, or use WhatsApp to share an incident directly to local authorities.

“In EMT Valencia, we remain committed to bet on technologies to get closer to the needs of our users. The new system of information in our bus shelters is not only an evolutionary tool to inform traveler in a more practical way, it goes way beyond. It is a new media to communicate with our users, talk about innovative initiatives or surprise them with attractive promotions.” comments Manuel López, Marketing Director of EMT Valencia.

The long-awaited concept of “connected city” – in which our daily lives are augmented by automated technology – is already becoming a reality. The use digital of technologies apply to the “Internet of Public Things” can rapidly optimize the efficiency of municipal services in order to reduce costs and, overall, improve the wellbeing of citizens.

The new contactless service “Smart City Valencia” carries all the ways to know when the next bus arrives in real time via SMS, QR and NFC. In addition, NFC tags and QR codes allow access to information about the network status, changes, improvements, promotions, news of interest, and possibility to download the official APP EMT Valencia. Those 3 technologies combined ensure access to 100% of phones in the market in 100% of Valencia’s bus shelters, 24/7.

The network of Smart stickers, covering 1.500 bus shelters in the city, is operated by Connecthings SaaS platform allowing EMT Valencia to manage mobile services, follow in-depth usage statistics and schedule promotional campaigns for travelers. With this new success, Connecthings now operates the contactless networks of the 3 biggest public bus operators in Spain.

17 June 2015 | Connected Tramway, new definition by Montpellier Metropolis with @connecthings

Connecthings@Montpellier

The Mediterranean Summit of Innovative Territories, that was dedicated to Smart Cities, was the opportunity for Montpellier Metropolis to start the deployment of NFC * QR smart tags on tramway stops.

This first phase will allow citizens and visitors to easily access tram real-time schedules and availabilities at bike-sharing stations nearby, directly approaching their smartphones to digital signage.

New features and new technologies are planned to be gradually added to this innovative service.

Montpellier Mediterranean Metropolis chose the platform Connecthings to implement this innovative solution on its territory.

15 June 2015 | BEYOND2020: HUMAN BEINGS AT THE HEART OF SMART CITIES FUTURE – LISBON 22-24/06

BEYOND 2020http://www.beyond-2020.com/

The first edition of “Beyond 2020” will take place in Lisboa, June 22-24th. Beyond 2020 is a Conferences Cycle that aims to discuss the Human Smart Cities beyond 2020.

REGISTRATION

“We believe that Social Innovation in the city context must be the focus of the urban innovation ecosystem ensuring that technology supports citizens”, says Valter Ferreira, President of Update Cities and Head of Organizational Innovation and Participation within the Lisbon Municipality.

Connecthings will be present at the congress and support BEYOND2020 with NFC smart posters and Bluetooth beacons deployed throughout the venues to make an easier, funnier and more practical congress where human beings will be at the core of new digital experiences.

Join us @beyond_2020, June 22-24 in Lisboa !

8 June 2015 | Meet @connecthings @ThingsEXPO East NYC on 11th June 15

The Internet of Things (IoT) is the most profound change in personal and enterprise IT since the creation of the Worldwide Web more than 20 years ago. Tens of billions devices -computers, smartphones, tablets, and sensors- will be connected to the Internet by 2020 and the future of computing lies in these things. As computing takes a much more active role in our lives it will at the same time become much more invisible. Internet of Things Expo will address the challenges in getting from where we are today to this future.

Connecthings is speaker at the conference, talking about « Smart and Connected cities ». Join us @ThingsExpo East , June 9-11 in New York!

http://www.thingsexpo.com/