On a fan community page on Chinese social media platform Weibo, hundreds of users have posted comments and pictures, some covered in little red hearts, to express their admiration for a star they affectionately call Kun Kun. “Kun Kun flies bravely, iKun will always follow him; Kun Kun never gets old, and will remain a blue-chip till the end,” some users wrote alongside the picture. “Kun Kun,” whose full name is Zhang Kun, is neither a pop star nor actor. Instead, he is one of China’s most prominent fund managers who oversees around 120 billion yuan ($18.6 billion) in assets at E Fund Management, an established Chinese asset management firm. Zhang’s followers, who label themselves “iKun,” (“i” is a homophone for the Chinese word love), have also created accounts on Weibo posing as his “global fan clubs.” “Kun Kun, I would like to accompany you for many, many years,” a follower wrote. “Let’s witness both the bull and bear markets, but still return with young hearts.” ...
The California-based company, which had last month won a project by Indian Railways, enables affordable and ubiquitous Internet of Things (IoT) connectivity to machines, sensors and devices, through satellite communication in the most remote geographies.
“Skylo costs 95% less than existing satellite solutions, with connectivity starting at just $1 per user and hardware that costs less than $100,” said Skylo co-founder and CEO Parthsarathi Trivedi. “This low-cost, global fabric of connectivity for machine data will be transformative for entire industries.”
Skylo’s satellite connectivity leverages existing geostationary satellites without the need to add new infrastructure in space. The company’s customers includes enterprise and government entities in a range of industries including automotive, railways, agriculture and maritime.
The use cases for Skylo include, mobilizing data for shipping and logistics, improving agriculture crop health and productivity, digitizing the fisheries industry, connectivity for modern passenger transportation systems and more.
“The Election Commission of India had in fact used Skylo hub during the previous elections to monitor election process in the most difficult terrains of Northeast India,” Trivedi said.
The Skylo Hub is a satellite terminal that connects to the Skylo Network which can provide reliable connectivity anywhere in the world, regardless of geography, without needing new infrastructure in space.
“Skylo’s satellite technology creates an affordable way to connect more of the physical world to the internet, even in remote areas,” said Yoshi Segawa, vice president at SoftBank Group International. “Skylo’s antenna technology and use of the narrowband internet of things protocol is revolutionary, and we look forward to working with the company in developing new use cases.”
Previous investments in the tech startup were made by DCM, Innovation Endeavors, Boeing, HorizonX and Moore Strategic Ventures.
Skylo, which already has a commercial presence in India and other emerging markets, is doing commercial trails with users in the U.S. and other countries with a vision to connect 1 billion devices globally.
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