Startup Spaceti partners with Vodafone in building digitisation

The Czech company has become Vodafone’s NB-IoT, narrowband Internet of Things, commercial customer and the operator’s new partner in building digitisation.

In partnership with Vodafone, Spaceti has developed a ‘3-in-1’ solution involving hardware sensors and mobile and online applications to help building owners, managers and tenants potentially save hundred of thousands of euros a year.

The solution is based around a ‘Smart Stone’, a 10x10cm wireless device that can be easily installed in any building, be it offices, a university or a hospital and connected through Vodafone’s NB-IoT.

What is NB-IoT?

Narrowband IoT is a new low power wide area technology specifically developed for the Internet of Things, for devices that require small amounts of data over long periods. LPWA technologies fill the ‘gap’ between mobile and short-range wireless networks. They are designed for machine communications and to provide connectivity for devices and applications that require low mobility and low levels of data transfer.

The ‘Smart Stone’ devices communicate with each other efficiently even through walls and ceilings and their low energy demands mean that they can run without a battery change for up to five years.

Web analytics then enable the user to monitor a range of indicators such as building occupancy, temperature, humidity or CO2 levels. The building managers can then react to those results and make changes if necessary.

The technology is being tested in a pilot project in Vodafone’s Prague headquarters and offers digital services to the operator’s employees who can interact with the system through a mobile application.

The building management department provides information through the app about meeting room bookings and availabilities as well as free desks in the shared office space. The technology can also be used to monitor parking place availability, booking and navigation to a specific parking spot.

Spaceti also won the MIPIM Proptech Europe Startup Competition in Paris last month. We met up with the Spaceti team whilst there and got COO, Aakash Ravi, to pitch to us in front of the camera.