Sigfox Launches Second Paris Hacking House

Sigfox Hacking House doubles times participants have to develop their IoT project and provides the opportunity to join the Telecom ParisTech Entrepreneurs Incubator.

PARIS--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Today, Sigfox, the world’s leading Internet of Things (IoT) service provider and first global 0G network operator, announces the launch of the second French edition of its Hacking House in Paris. For six months, participants from seven different countries will bring IoT-based projects to life addressing issues as diverse as car theft prevention and bird protection.

The participants will be divided into four teams to develop their project at Sigfox in Paris from 10 February to 7 August 2020. This new 180-day format, instead of 90 days for the first Hacking House, will provide the time to create a functional prototype that will be tested in real conditions in the field. Throughout this period, participants will not only be supported by Sigfox experts, but will also benefit, thanks to external specialists, from an apprenticeship in entrepreneurial skills, so that they have the basis to launch their product or startup.

"For this sixth edition we wanted to add value to our program by giving participants the time and tools to deliver a proven IoT solution that will meet the specifications given at the start up," explains Maxime Schacht, Hacking House Manager. "We also have a new partnership with Telecom ParisTech Entrepreneurs, the first digital business incubator in France, which will provide mentoring for startups and entrepreneurs from the Hacking House.”

At the end of the six months working on the various projects, which will include several phases of exchanges with partners, conceptual thinking, prototyping and testing, the teams will present their work to a panel made up of investors, clients and experts. They will evaluate the projects taking into account production issues and the existence of similar products on the market.

The four projects selected this year are very diverse and respond to various but specific problems identified by Sigfox customers:

• Audience and impact measurement of digital billboards thanks to embedded artificial intelligence
• Prevention of car theft
• Connected nesting box to promote the repopulation of birds in partnership with the Ligue de Protection des Oiseaux (League for the Protection of Birds)
• Management and optimisation of berths and mooring rings for pleasure boats

Microsoft and Amosense are the sponsors of the latest Hacking House, which will also be supported by technology partners such as LITE-ON, Wisebatt and STMicroelectronics.

“We believe that the Sigfox’s Hacking House is addressing an important need in the IoT market by sponsoring innovative and impactful Industrial IoT projects, an area of focus for Microsoft Azure IoT Services” said Soren Lau, General Manager, IoT & Mixed Reality Sales EMEA at Microsoft.

"We are delighted to sponsor the new Hacking House to help produce such promising projects in the IoT field. Like Hacking House, we believe that projects are born out of a real issue and well-defined customer expectations," said Danny Jung, executive vice president of Amosense.

About Sigfox
Sigfox is the initiator of the 0G network and the world’s leading IoT (Internet of Things) service provider. Its global network allows billions of devices to connect to the Internet, in a straightforward way, while consuming as little energy as possible. Sigfox’s unique approach to device-to-cloud communications addresses the three greatest barriers to global IoT adoption: cost, energy consumption and global scalability.

Today, the network is available in 70 countries, with 1 billion people covered. ISO 9001 certified and surrounded by a large ecosystem of partners and IoT key players, Sigfox empowers companies to move their business model towards more digital services, in key areas such as Asset Tracking and Supply Chain. Founded in 2010 by Ludovic Le Moan and Christophe Fourtet, the company is headquartered in France and has offices in Madrid, Munich, Boston, Dallas, San Jose, Dubai, Singapore, Sao Paulo and Tokyo.