This Startup Aims to Establish Itself as a global Player in the IoT Space
The combination of “Data” and “Atoms” (DATOMS) highlights the importance of data in the world of IoT, as it is the building block of any successful IoT solution. Just like atoms are the fundamental particles that make up everything in the universe, data is the fundamental unit that powers the IIoT platform and forms the backbone of various Industrial IoT applications. At DATOMS, the company specializes in helping equipment manufacturers (OEMs) take their products to the next level. With its expertise in IoT and data analytics, the company provides solutions that make products smarter and operations simpler, helping manufacturers stay ahead of the competition. DATOM has a goal to help OEMs become leaders in their industry by offering the tools and support they need to succeed. During an interaction with Nitisha; Amiya Samantaray, Founder & CEO, DATOMS elaborates on his company’s special offerings and future plans to grow further.
Kindly talk about DATOMS and its special offerings.
DATOMS has been officially launched on 1st Jan 2021 amid the rise of COVID-19 and the changing business landscape in India. DATOMS’s vision is to drive IoT adoption for some of the complex machines through simplifying technology components and easy-to-use software tools. It’s bringing the power of IOT in the form a SAAS tool for equipment manufacturers, leasing/renting companies. DATOMS offers end-to-end solution for connected machines including hardware and software tools to help its customers in the digital transformation journey. Someone who wants to leverage IoT for their connected product strategy can rely on Datoms for immediate results rather than making a significant investment in building team and the tech from scratch.
What are your views about IoT industry and how it has simplified the humans’ work?
Internet of Things (IoT) has come a long way in terms technology evaluation and standardization. It has become a part of our day-to-day life whether we understand it or not; be it through Alexa, Smart Blubs, Smart TVs, EVs etc. IoT as a technology is already a key driver for applications such as predictive maintenance, remote monitoring etc. As per my view, It’s a horizontal technology component which will have larger impact across multiple industries such as logistic, healthcare, automotive, insurance, financing etc. If you look deeply, the core value IoT brings to the table is simplifying data acquisition. It provides companies the power to acquire real-time data where it was not possible earlier such as automotives, logistics, healthcare and eliminates the unnecessary human intervention in come of the asset heavy industries such as manufacturing, oil & gas, mining, construction etc. The benefit of this real-time data combined with power of AI can transform operations, business models across many industries.
Kindly share your plans and journey to establish this organization.
DATOMS has been taking small and critical steps to establish itself in the sectors it’s operating. We have successfully onboarded some of the big equipment manufacturers and rental companies including Mahindra Powerol, Tata Motors, Perinnial Power, GMMCo etc. They are many small and large-scale players are lined up for adopting Datoms in this financial year. We have expanded our presence to many counties in Africa including South-Africa, Zambia, Kenya, Nigeria, and Middle east to cater those markets. India remains our primary market for validating the technology and we will keep expanding our presence to other continents in the future. We have set a vision to connect 10 million machines to our platform in the next 5 years and establish ourselves as a global player in the IoT Space.
How your company define itself different with other IoT startups?
We are not a typical industry 4.o IoT startup rather we are much focused on the equipment manufacturers and renting companies. We are an IoT platform with Software-as-a-Service business model in our core. We can’t ignore the customizations, services needed to build a full proof IoT solution but we as a company are focusing on the productization of those services and offering them in the form of SAAS. We strive to bring simplicity to our tech platform for mass adoption across sectors which we believe will be a key differentiator.
What kind of seed funding you have earned since now and any upcoming deals.
We have raised approximately 7 Cr in the past and will look to raise our Series A round in this financial year. We are really excited about the emergence of global VCs and rising interest among VCs to invest in Deep-tech startups.
Kindly elaborate your asset monitoring system and how is it different from other asset management companies?
Datoms’s asset monitoring system primarily focuses on a niche component of the business i.e equipment-as-a-service (EAAS). We are talking about how various leasing/renting companies can adopt equipment-as-a-service to offer new products to enterprises and consumers leveraging IoT. It’s bringing a fundamental shift towards the ownership of assets and it’s maintenance piece to the renting company from the end consumer. PwC reports, as more industries started looking at asset light business models, EAAS adoption will grow at 40% CAGR till 2030 and will create trillion-dollar opportunities across sectors. The business model is not new, but introduction of IoT and change in business landscape will push EAAS and outcome as a service which is relatively new for asset management industry.
Kindly elaborate on your upcoming project and its benefits for Indian industry.
We are expanding our platform support various asset/machine categories which will help many equipment manufacturers to adopt the digital transformation journey and become market ready to compete with global counterparts. We are also planning to extend support for various device startups to promote make-in-India IoT products which can boost the IoT hardware startup eco-system.
What will be your future marketing strategies for the company’s growth?
We will leverage digital and physical channels for our marketing strategies. We strongly believe the Indian industries need more hand holding and require more awareness drives to understand the benefit of adopting IoT with the right strategical mindset. Datoms will continue investing in educating its audiences through newsletters, webinars and sharing the experience success stories of existing customers. We will also look out for having good presence in the future expos and events to reach out to larger audience.
