ARIE Capital Technology EIS: Net4 – an update from the CEO

by | Apr 1, 2020

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Net4’s latest update comes over a week into the UK’s lockdown due to the COVID-19 pandemic


We had been building good momentum up to this point, and we have been waiting with bated breath to see how the market would react to the situation and how it would impact the business.

It has become clear that, whilst certain business sectors are slowing down, others are not, and indeed new opportunities are also presenting themselves. In this new normal that the pandemic has created, innovators such as Net4 are more crucial than ever.

Net4 has built strong channel relationships, and now is not the time to stop. Our channel partners are not stopping, and therefore any slowdown in the operations of Net4 will only serve to undo the work that we have done to date.

 
 

Technology

We continue to develop the technology stack as per our plan, but in the last month we have made two key advancements.

Our visual insights partner, in conjunction with Net4, has upgraded its joint solution to provide event-based alerts and actions from live video feeds within our Thingable IoT platform. This serves to turn CCTV cameras into sensors for identifying & counting people, identifying objects, and zoning areas for enhanced security.

Net4 is also integrating with a leading workflow and scheduling app provider in order to provide the intelligence of IoT sensor data to the app. This enables automated job scheduling and automatic alerts, thereby increasing automation and creating efficiencies.

 

Sales pipeline

In March alone, Net4 has received orders from:

– An extremely well-known soft-drinks manufacturing brand

– One of the largest supermarket chains in the UK

 

– One of the largest transportation networks in the UK

– A major UK Trust

All these orders are for projects that could easily scale beyond £500k each, and they are only one single solution for businesses that require tens of different strategies. We already have a further 3 projects quoted for with the supermarket chain.

 

We continue to cultivate partner relationships and to develop opportunities, some of which will take time. However, we have also been presented with some immediate opportunities around the NHS related to the COVID-19 pandemic.

We are also in the process of releasing some prepacked solutions for which we foresee an immediate need, particularly around remote asset monitoring and tracking. This will allow us to open up direct sales and an entirely separate sales channel to our existing ones.

Benchmarking against KPIs

As per the last update, we are still on course to meet the KPIs that we set. We anticipate further growth in the business as we continue to move forward.

 

In conclusion…

Net4 remains in a strong position, and it is fair to say that we have not seen a slowdown in activity since the COVID-19 lockdown was brought in.

Although we do not know how long the lockdown will be in force for, what is clear is that the need for automation and remote monitoring has been highlighted like never before. There is some scientific evidence to suggest that we may see another wave of infection in the winter. This means that we, as innovators, could find ourselves with a limited window of time to install the necessary infrastructure to ensure that the business community retains its continuity and does not suffer to anything like the same extent should a second lockdown (or any further lockdowns in the future) occur.

Net4 must be in a position of strength when this lockdown is lifted, and ready to play our part in creating a brighter and more stable future.

 

If you would like to learn more about working with Net4, or investment opportunities within the company, please contact alex.taylor@net4.io; investment can be completed by the 5th April for carry back. We look forward to hearing from you!


For more information about Arie Capital click here

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