Momenta Ventures invests in SST Wireless
15/04/2020
Momenta Ventures has announced an investment in SST Wireless, a provider of wireless industrial-hardened condition monitoring sensors.Based in British Columbia, Canada, SST provides sensors that are used to increase worker safety, reduce downtime, extend machinery service life and help to conserve resources such as water and energy.
According to Ken Forster, Momenta Ventures’ Executive Director: “SST is bringing key building blocks for what we call ‘digital industry’ – the digitisation of energy, manufacturing, smart spaces and transportation/logistics. We believe that low-power wide-area network (LPWAN) communication, such as that provided by LoRa and LoRaWAN, is a key enabler. We are pleased to fund the marriage of both in SST’s next offering.”
For over a decade, SST has provided wireless sensor technologies that are used in some of the most extreme industrial environments.
Led by Christopher Chong, CEO and industry veteran, the company has three main product lines: tyre pressure monitoring systems (TPMSs) for both on-the-road (trucks and buses) and off-the-road (heavy machinery) assets; high-temperature sensors capable of handling temperatures of up to 200°C/392°F (currently being used to ensure safety and efficiency in forestry as well as to prevent overheating of equipment); and vibration sensors with built-in intelligence to allow equipment users to make real-time decisions on the maintenance of equipment, including motors, pumps, compressors and drive shafts.
Christopher said: “We are very excited to join Momenta Ventures as a portfolio company and look forward to leveraging their unique focus and expertise in the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) and LoRa-/LoRaWAN-based initiatives. We are already benefitting from our relationship with Momenta’s subject matter experts to execute on our growth strategies.”
The investment will be used to develop and commercialise a new line of LoRa-based industrial sensors, making real-time industrial-grade condition monitoring and analytics available to all industrial customers. By combining SST’s strong sensing technology with the power of LoRa’s LPWAN wireless communications, these products are ready for industrial application, simple to set up and can operate anywhere, bringing the power of digitisation to all customers. SST’s services include utilising the data from these sensors in aggregated form to better serve customers with predictive maintenance and other analytic toolsets.
