Veniam’s network of vehicle mounted hotspots can be the future

We all understand that network connectivity will become more and more important as cities become smarter with not just its citizens demanding access but also millions of things also connected. Most of the people and devices will be always on the move and that is why a startup from Portugal backed by investors is betting big on their already tested solution of huge network of public hotspots mounted on top of vehicles. Vehicles fitted with a Wi-Fi hotspot powered by the vehicle’s battery allows anyone to connect to the Internet. Veniam’s innovative solution looks at vehicles not just as machines that carry people and goods, but rather as active nodes of the Internet that can expand wireless coverage and serve as mobile sensors for smart city applications.

Veniam was founded by João Barros, professor at University of Porto, Portugal; Susana Sargento, associate professor at University of Aveiro, Portugal; Robin Chase, founder and former CEO of Zipcar; and Roy Russell, Zipcar founding CTO. Verizon Ventures with new investors Cisco Investments, Orange Digital Ventures and Yamaha Motor Ventures pumped in  $22 million in Series B funds in February, 2016.

Veniam’s game-changing solutions ensure that all mobile workers and assets are securely connected, no matter where they are or at what speed they are moving.  The company is already showing off what it’s doing in Porto, Portugal, site of the first rollout of its technology. The network there provides more than 50,000 mobile hotspots to end-users, and it already has hundreds of vehicles, including taxis, buses and garbage collection trucks, serving as mobile Wi-Fi hotspots. They are also gathering terabytes of data, which they send from the physical world to the cloud. Veniam’s hardware, software and cloud components are delivering managed services to intelligent transportation systems in New York and Singapore as well.

Veniam’s proprietary intellectual property from more than a decade of world-class research builds on existing wireless standards (Wi-Fi, 4G LTE and DSRC) and leverages the 5.9 GHz frequency band reserved by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) and the United States Department of Transportation (USDOT) for intelligent transportation systems. Developed in collaboration with top universities, such as University of Porto, University of Aveiro, Carnegie Mellon, and MIT, Veniam’s full stack platform includes all the hardware, software, and cloud components required to build networks of vehicles and other moving things, while supporting unprecedented smart city services.

Veniam has also developed solutions for fleet management and port operations management using the same technology of network of moving things. In June 2016, Veniam won the CNBC Disruptor 50 and Best Auto Mobility Product/Service Award at the TU-Automotive Awards on the same evening. After testing their solution in Europe, Veniam has setup their Headquarters in California, US to be able to address the large American market with regional offices in Porto, Portugal and Singapore.

Reference Links: 1) https://veniam.com/ – Official website of Veniam