Hero Electronix Forays Into IoT With Acquisition Of Zenatix

Hero Electronix, the technology arm of Hero Group, has announced the acquisition of a Gurgaon-based Internet of Things (IoT) focused enterprise Zenatix. With this acquisition, Hero Electronix has now expanded into the IoT space, aimed at helping enterprises tackle business challenges through the deployment of connected-devices.

Further, Hero Electronix with Zenatix plans to help address business challenges in retail, hospitality and logistics verticals through the deployment of IoT and emerging technologies. Also, Zenatix aims to widen its reach by foraying into global markets – countries such as Southeast Asia with similar challenges as the India market.

The past investment of Hero Electronix include Tessolve, a leading semiconductor; Malaysia’s Spectrum Integrated Technologies Sdn Bhd and the test lab business of Singapore’s Lynxemi Pte Ltd. In 2015, Hero Electronix acquired MyBox Technologies, one of India’s largest multi-operator manufacturers of digital set-top boxes in the country.

On the acquisition, Ujjwal Munjal, Founder and Director of Hero Electronix said, “If we examine the IoT space in India today, we only see the tip of the proverbial iceberg. As our team drives innovation, we are exploring acquisition and partnerships with startups like Zenatix, who are combining technology and data driven insights for sectoral disruption.”

Founded in 2013 by Amarjeet Singh, Rahul Bhalla and Vishal Bansal, Zenatix solutions enable customers connect their physical assets (like air conditioners, refrigeration, lighting, ATM machines, DVRs) over the Internet so that these assets can be controlled and monitored centrally in an automated fashion.

On the acquisition, Rahul Bhalla, CEO of Zenatix, said, “While we use IoT and big data analytics to introduce automation for retail and BFSI customers, through our partnership with Hero Electronix, we aim to expand these solutions to new areas and segments. The Indian IoT market is still at a nascent stage and with Hero Electronix as our partner, we aim to scale up to the next level.”

Similar to Zenatix, other startups specialising on IoT include Bengaluru-based Stellapps that offers end-to-end dairy technology solutions, Ahmedabad-based Ecolibrium that provides energy intelligence to commercial and industrial consumers and utilities, among others. NASSCOM report suggests India to have an installed IoT device base of over 2 Bn units by 2020. It is estimated that this space will garner $6 Tn worth of investments between 2015 and 2020.