Ultra Mobile’s Internet of Things Connected Lab has officially announced the first ever winner of its incubator program. Outdoor advertising startup firm Ozzy was declared as the lucky winner, while two other participants of the program (BarnOwl and an unnamed transportation company) were named as runner ups. This incubator program is the first initiative of the mobile virtual network operator’s Ultra IoT Connected Lab, with the objective of serving as a launchpad for an IoT startup for a period of 10 weeks.
Hailing from the city of Palo Alto in California, Ozzy is developing the first targeted out of home content network. With the help of Ultra Mobile’s incubator program, Ozzy is looking to better deliver and manage IoT connectivity. As the winner of the program, the startup firm gets the following perks:
As for the runner ups, they each get $10,000 US Ultra Mobile connectivity (must be used in the next 12 months), mentorship, and $2,000 towards travel. Not much has been revealed about the transportation company, but the other runner up, BarnOwl, is an agricultural technology (AgTech) firm that is creating real time tracking solutions geared for ranchers and farmers.
The mere fact that the winner of the incubator program is an advertising company while one of the runner ups is an AgTech company is proof of the wide range of participants who signed up for Ultra Mobile’s IoT Connected Lab initiative. According to the MVNO’s official press release, the top three industries that participated were transportation (making up 46 percent of the total number of program applicants), shipping (13 percent), and environmental (also 13 percent).
It was nearly a month ago when Ultra Mobile formally announced its Ultra IoT Connected Lab program. The overall mission of the program was to foster faster development in the area of IoT related solutions and services, not only for businesses and enterprises but also for consumers. Back in September, the MVNO had stated that spending related to IoT projects are projected to increase to $1.4 trillion by 2021 (based on data compiled by NFC World). Various tech analysts are also expecting that by the end of this decade, around 10 percent of all consumer gadgets (not only counting smartphones, tablets, and wearable devices) will come with cellular connectivity.
