5 May 2013 (Singapore) – W-Locate Pte Ltd (“W-Locate”), a Singapore-based location technology company which delivers innovative tracking solutions, have secured S$589k in pre-Series A funding led by TNF Ventures (TNF) through the Technology Incubation Scheme under the Singapore’s National Research Foundation (Prime Minister’s Office). The funds will play an important role in W-Locate’s roll-out and adoption plans for its core products.
W-Locate is the innovator behind the well-acclaimed products, FIND and XimLoc, which are productivity tools for vehicle fleet and workforce management respectively.
FIND combines tracking and telematics technologies with business analytics to empower fleet and assets owners to remotely track, manage and protect their assets. Most importantly, they can leverage on the business intelligence features in FIND to maximize the productivity of their fleet.FIND is currently adopted by regional large fleet owners from different industries in the ASEAN region. Including Holcim (S) Pte Ltd and Samwoh Corporation Pte Ltd.
First in the world, XimLoc offers a SIM-based cell positioning system which can accurately track any cellular devices in both indoor and outdoor locations regardless of OS. XimLoc is a proprietary technology, which uses information from the cellular network (2G/2.5G/3G/3.5G/4G) to compute the user’s position. XimLoc uses a residential java applet, which was jointly developed with Morpho Cards (Singapore) Pte Ltd, on the SIM card to sniff the network information and send them to XimLoc server, where the location engine computes the most probable location based on its proprietary algorithm. XimLoc has been rigorously tested and has been proven to be a practical solution that addresses the limitation of GPS i.e. the inability to track indoor and heavy power consumption. XimLoc comes with a full-feature web-based dashboard.
XimLoc is currently offered via major SIM card manufacturers (Morpho Cards (S) Pte Ltd & Bluefish Technologies Asia Pte Ltd) to their Global Customers. XimLoc has already secured 2 major telecommunications companies in Singapore & Thailand to provide location-based services. W-Locate is also currently in concluding talks with other telcos in Asia, Africa and the Middle East.
“This investment is a testimony to our efforts thus far and will help W-Locate fund both FIND and XimLoc regional expansion plan. We are also excited by the value that the TNF team is bringing to the Company. They are a highly experienced and well respected group of professionals and we believe their support will bring W-Locate to a new level of growth” said Stevie Ooi, Chief Locationist of W-Locate.
“W-locate is a very unique tracking and telematics company. They use both GPS technology and their proprietary SIM card-based, XimLoc, to deliver an all-encompassing solution to address their customers’ needs. We are starting to see where M2M, Big Data and Cloud Computing are coming together to deliver some impressive benefits across a number of industries. Their solution offering has the potential to elevate into wider and more innovative uses. With their sound business model and good partnership with major telecom players, we expect W-Locate to be the leading player in Asia’s tracking and telematics market in 2-3 years’ time” said Shirley Wong, Managing Director of TNF Ventures Pte Ltd.
About W-locate
W-Locate is a technology company that integrates telematics and location analytics to deliver a comprehensive tracking solution for its clients to track, manage and protect valuable resources effectively and efficiently. For more information, please visit W-locate website.
About TNF Ventures
TNF Ventures (TNF) is an incubator under the National Research Foundation’s Technology Incubator Scheme (TIS). TNF is founded by key shareholders with backgrounds of entrepreneurs, senior corporate executives, venture capitalists and some of the IT luminaries in Singapore. With the belief that their combined knowledge, experience and contacts could make a huge difference to a burgeoning startup ecosystem, TNF looks to contribute back to Singapore by incubating the next generation of entrepreneurs. For more information, please visit TNF Ventures website.
About the National Research Foundation (NRF), Prime Minister’s Office, Singapore
The National Research Foundation (NRF), set up on 1 January 2006, is a department within the Prime Minister’s Office. The NRF helps set the national direction for research and development (R&D) by developing policies, plans and strategies for research, innovation and enterprise. It also funds strategic initiatives and builds up R&D capabilities and capacities by nurturing local and attracting foreign talent. The NRF aims to transform Singapore into a vibrant R&D hub that contributes towards a knowledge-intensive, innovative and entrepreneurial economy; and establish Singapore as a magnet for talent and excellence in science and innovation. The Technology Incubation Scheme or TIS comes under the umbrella of the National Framework for Innovation & Enterprise (NFIE), which was introduced in 2008 to advance R&D-based innovation in Singapore with a view to commercialization. Under the TIS, the NRF co-invests with the chosen technology incubators in Singapore-based high-tech start-ups. For more information, please visit NRF Website.
For more information and media enquiries, please contact:
Stevie Ooi
Chief Locationist
W-locate Pte Ltd
1 Pemimpin Drive
#08-05, One Pemimpin
Singapore 576151
Phone: (65) 6259 6972
Email: stevie@w-locate.com