Exclusive: Automobile IoT startup Vehico raises angel funding from Calcutta Angel Network, Appliyifi

Bengaluru-based Vehico that develops Internet of Things (IoT) solutions for the automobile industry has received an undisclosed amount of angel investment from Calcutta Angel Network and Appliyifi, an online platform for startup investments.

The fresh capital, raised in late October, will be used to strengthen its product, scale up the technology infrastructure and to expand the team, Abhishek Chatterjee, founder and CEO of Vehico told Techcircle.

Vehico, owned and operated by Metaiot Technologies Pvt. Ltd., was founded by Chatterjee in early 2015. He worked with IBM and Tata Steel before launching his startup venture.

Its flagship product Vehico Fleet is a telematics-based fleet management and analytics solution that offers fleet owners and car rental companies with real-time insights on vehicle health and driver behavioural patterns to save money on fuel and vehicle maintenance and avoid accidents.

Telematics refers to long distance transmission of information and it is widely applied in the automobile industry particularly to remotely control and manage data in vehicles.

"Using our predictive analytics enabled dashboard, they can plan, budget, forecast and allocate resources beforehand thus improving upon overall efficiency," Chatterjee said.

The company's other offering christened Vehico Link, a hardware device that collects data from the vehicle, driver, surroundings and runs optimised edge analytics algorithms, provides precision point driver performance information.

"Within next 2 quarters we are coming up with advanced hardware, product improvements, and an API-based solution which anyone can integrate with their current solution. Our vision behind Vehico is to build a connected transportation ecosystem bringing better safety, security, connectivity and efficiency in the transportation industry," he said.

Vehico had received a small, first tranche of seed investment from the same angels in June this year. IoT, as a segment of investment interest, has been attracting significant venture capital attention for a couple of years now. Investors with a long-term horizon view automobile-based IoT solutions are an upcoming, evolving segment.

Recently, South Korean electronics giant Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd said it would buy US auto-suppliers firm Harman International Industries, which owns brands such as JBL, Harman Kardon and AKG, for $8 billion in an all-cash deal. Harman offers connected car solutions and currently more than 30 million vehicles are equipped with its audio systems, including embedded infotainment, telematics, connected safety and security.

Pune-based CarIQ that offers a telematics-based platform that enables car owners to track and assess their vehicle's behaviour, had secured a seed funding in 2012 from Pose Ventures, a Singapore-based early and seed stage fund; Snow Leopard, the VC arm of the Kirloskar Group, and CBX.

Gurgaon-based automobile IoT device-making startup Trak N Tell had raised investments from WhatsApp cofounder Brian Acton and others in June this year.