- hubraum freeing funding cash, invests in precise positioning and in-building wireless partners; DT quietly exits Dynamic Signal.
- PHYTunes, a developer of in-building coverage solutions, secured an influx of capital from hubraum. The undisclosed investment came shortly after the startup received first prize at the Research Stream of Telekom Challenge — the first edition of a science competition run by Telekom Innovation Labs. hubraum is supporting technology development and looks to be carrying out tests of PHYTunes’ patent-pending “wireless–wireline convergence” hardware. This consists of two “product families”: Cellular Subscriber Lines (CSL) IF, which are capable of “inexpensively” transporting “high-frequency”, 5G-enabling airwaves from baseband units to real estate via fixed infrastructure — e.g. Ethernet wires and coaxial and fibre-optic cabling; and a CSL RF “tuner” device, for the provision of indoor connectivity. PHYTunes purports to be helping overcome the issue of attenuation, whereby the strength of the signal deteriorates when travelling through “physical barriers”, such as concrete, glass, and wood.
- hubraum named Angsa Robotics, the developer of an autonomous “trash removal” robot, as the winner of its 2021 Accuracy Unlocked acceleration programme (Deutsche Telekomwatch, #105). Angsa Robotics will now receive a cash injection from the telco. This will likely go towards accelerating product development, with a market launch scheduled in 2022. Its solution is in its “fourth prototype” phase. The German startup could now be offered a “joint business opportunity” as DT seeks use-cases for the Precise Positioning technology. One main use-case of the startup’s solution is the cleaning of festival venues after events, with precise localisation via global navigation satellite systems is seen as essential to its operation. Accuracy Unlocked was hosted in collaboration with positioning solutions provider Swift Navigation.
- Deutsche Telekom Capital Partners (DTCP) appeared to have exited Dynamic Signal, the employee communication and engagement software provider it acquired a stake in during July 2018 (Deutsche Telekomwatch, #75). Dynamic Signal has now rebranded as firstup.io following a long-mooted acquisition by US-based rival-cum-partner SocialChorus. As a result of the transaction, on which financial details were not disclosed, DTCP has divested its holding, according to data from CB Insights. Post-merger, firstup.io (whose name derives from SocialChorus’s flagship product FirstUp) claims to count 40% of the Fortune 100 as customers. The FirstUp proposition is billed as technology-agnostic and purports to enable large corporations to share company news and communicate “on any endpoint (i.e., Microsoft Teams, SharePoint, and Slack) or device”, even with staff on the manufacturing floor, for example, via “digital signage and kiosks” in office hallways.
- Replay Technologies, an immersive video technology specialist that was a DT venture capital investment until it was sold to Intel Corporation in 2016, appeared to have been a less successful venture for the US technology giant. Reports by Israeli media said that Intel is now shutting down part of its sports technology division, which was based in part on Replay’s technology. DTCP led a Series-B funding round in Replay in February 2016, shortly before its sale to Intel (Deutsche Telekomwatch, #54).
