Key areas of interest include globally-marketed electric vehicles, modular ‘mobility base units’, and innovative technologies and services to achieve carbon neutrality.
Just a month after entering into a partnership with Soracom Inc., a leading global provider of Internet of Things (IoT) connectivity solutions, Suzuki Motor Corporation (SMC) has invested in the company through its corporate venture capital fund, Suzuki Global Ventures.
On February 20, 2024, SMC, known for producing a wide range of mobility products, including cars, motorcycles, and outboard motors, joined forces with Soracom Inc. to explore using advanced IoT technologies in mobility services.
Soracom and Suzuki aim to leverage cutting-edge IoT technologies to develop innovative solutions centred on mobility services. They are considering areas such as electric vehicles (EVs) tailored for the global market, modular mobility base units, and new technologies and services promoting carbon neutrality.
This strategic move is a response to the rapidly evolving trends in the global automotive industry, driven by significant advancements in electrification and automation and the growing popularity of connected cars and telematics technologies. Automakers now have the chance to utilize recent developments in hardware, software, and connectivity to create new services and enhance consumers’ comfort, convenience, and safety.
Soracom also recently made its debut on the Tokyo Stock Exchange in the Growth Market section, which is dedicated to emerging companies with high growth potential. The company boasts a clientele of over 20,000 startups and enterprises and connects approximately six million IoT devices worldwide.
Its platform offers a unified management and control solution for a variety of IoT connections, including terrestrial and non-terrestrial (satellite) cellular connections (such as 2G, 4G, NB-IoT, LTE-M, and intermediate technologies) and non-cellular connections (like LoRaWAN and Sigfox).
This listing positions Soracom to issue new shares and secure funding for further growth and expansion. The Tokyo Stock Exchange approved the initial listing in February. Soracom is highly respected in the IoT industry, particularly for its open interfaces, which are cloud-agnostic, bearer-agnostic, and hardware-agnostic.
