A participant in Microsoft’s first accelerator program in Berlin has bagged investment worth €750,000. Sensorberg, one of nine teams to join the accelerator in a blaze of publicity last year, will use the funding from Berlin Technologie Holding (BTH) to launch and develop its iBeacon management software product.
Apple’s iBeacon technology is an indoor positioning system that works with iOS or Android, enabling devices or other hardware to send push notifications to other devices in close proximity. It is seen as an alternative to Near Field Communication (NFC).
Founded in 2013, Berlin-based Sensorberg enables energy- and cost-efficient solutions for interactive dialogue between businesses and their customers.
This could be through new app scenarios such as indoor navigation or mobile payments, where it creates new marketing opportunities at the point of sale. The company is now looking to hire new staff and further develop its cloud-based management platform on Microsoft’s Windows Azure.
BTH becomes the first strategic investor, joining existing angel investors, and Sensorberg founders Alexander Oelling and Dr. Robert Peschke now want to build a nationwide network of iBeacon devices.
Oelling said: “We are working everyday to make our dream come a step closer.”
Joern-Carlos Kuntze, managing partner of BTH, said: “Sensorberg shows us the future in dialogue between customers and businesses, which with the fusion between offline and online words, closes an important gap.”