Mumbai: Unicorn India Ventures invests in IoT startup Probus Smart Things. The city-based early-stage VC Fund house Unicorn India Ventures invests an undisclosed amount from Rs 400 crore Fund II in IoT enabled smart grid automation startup Probus Smart Things.
This is Unicorn India Ventures’ fourth investment from Rs 400 crore Fund II. The IoT startup Probus Smart Things will use the undisclosed investment for scaling up the platform and entering new geographies.
Probus develops integrated hardware and software solutions for utility providers. It digitises the distribution grid and functions as an IoT platform based service.
They are winners of the “Best Startup in India” for their sustainable solution at the 2019 Seedstars Delhi. The company and the underlying technology has been awarded by Indian Smart Grid Forum twice for the solution in 2018 and most recently in 2020.
Probus’ IoT solution for electricity distribution utilities helps to achieve distribution grid analytics and automation. It subsequently enables efficient distribution of electricity along with the quicker restoration of power after disturbances.
It further enables reduced operations and management costs for utilities and ultimately lower power costs for consumers.
“India is a power surplus country, but the distortions in the power sector has cost the Indian economy $86 billion in 2016 alone. Current technologies like SCADA are expensive and not scalable in terms of the size & complexity of India’s electricity distribution grid,” says Anand Singh, Co-founder and CEO -Probus Smart Things.
“Using our IoT enabled wireless, modular hardware and data analytics platform, we cut through these issues and are enabling electric utilities to make last-mile connectivity reliable by helping India achieve an efficient electricity grid within a fraction of their current costs,” adds Singh.
“Probus enables electricity distribution companies to rapidly digitise their infrastructure and processes by bringing cost reduction and operational efficiency,” says Anil Joshi, Managing Partner – Unicorn India Ventures.
“This is a service that isn’t just pertinent in India but will fare well in the rest of the South East Asian market and Europe as well,” adds Joshi.