Startup of the Year: Apana. Five-year-old Apana won in the startup category for its intelligent water management system, which helps to reduce water waste and optimize its use for industrial and commercial customers. Apana’s LoRa-based technology is installed as a retrofit kit and sends real-time water use data to the cloud. The service analyzes the data to identify patterns and sends information about water misuse to frontline workers, who could then take action to stop the waste.
The company said its business model involves three sources of revenue: sales from IoT and sensor equipment required for initial setup of the water management system; recurring revenue from its automated smart water management service; and licensing fees from water meter manufacturers and channel revenue from partnerships and consultancies.
Costco, Fetzer Winery, Kurita Water Industries and MGM Resorts are cited by Apana as customers.
According to the company, its technology reduces capex costs for connecting water meters to networks by 75% compared with traditional techniques.