From Recovering Stolen E-Bikes to Tracking Dogs - IoT Venture GmbH CEO Jürgen Veith

Back in 2016, the founders of Germany's IoT Venture GmbH came up with the idea of tracking dogs using GPS technology. This idea was soon discarded, and its e-bike tracking solution 'IT’S MY BIKE' came to life. It has been on the market since 2018.

"We now offer our tracking solution for a wide range of industries – even the original idea has now been developed - and help business customers digitise their business model with data," IoT Venture's CEO and Co-Founder, Jürgen Veith, tells Auto Futures.

The main goal of the Darmstadt-based company's solution is tracking and protecting valuable assets. It recently announced the delivery of its 300,000th tracker.

"One great advantage is that our services include the development of hardware and software (embedded systems), provision of the required data platform (cloud solution), supply of a (white label) app and assistance in developing brand-new digital business models with all services coming from a single supplier," explains Veith.

IT'S MY BIKE works by connecting e-bikes to the internet. Its main purpose is to protect, locate and recover stolen e-bikes based on GPS. 

"Via our app the user can locate his/her bike at any time. In case of a theft, our bike hunter team will assist the user in working with the police to recover the bike. The module features many other useful functions to optimise comfort, safety and riding fun, like ride statistics, discounted insurance packages and a digital accident assistant."

Using Data Insights to Create More Liveable Cities

A new cooperative partnership with the German e-bike subscription startup, Dance, means a few thousand of its e-bikes will be fitted with IT’S MY BIKE trackers.

"Dance bikes are equipped with our module and we assist Dance in recovering the bikes in case of a theft," says Veith.

In a press release, Christian Springub, Co-Founder and Chief Product Officer of Dance, states: “At Dance, we want to create a global movement for safer, more people- friendly cities by offering flexible, convenient, environmentally friendly mobility solutions. We are continually exploring potential partnerships with innovative players in the mobility sector to offer our members a state-of-the-art mobility experience. IoT Venture GmbH are pioneers in the connected bike sector and our partnership will allow us to bring significantly greater security and connectivity to our Dance bikes,” states Christian Springub, Co-Founder and Chief Product Officer of Dance.

"With our smart technology, we offer insights into data that will help Dance achieve their objective of creating more liveable cities. We are excited by the energy that the entire Dance team exudes and look forward to getting down to work with them,” adds Mario Schmitz, Head of Business Development at IoT Venture GmbH.

Back to The Future

In addition to the e-bike tracker, the company has developed a GPS pet tracker. More than 185,000 units have now been sold; proof that the company's original idea was worth pursuing.

"Our pet-tracker is based on the same technology as our bike-tracker. It is distributed by our partner Fressnapf, the European market leader for pet supplies . Unlike in the bike industry, the focus here is on the health aspect - the movement data enriched with further data such as type of food, weight of the dog, breed, and much more can give important insights on the fitness of the dog," says Veith.

IoT Venture has moved quickly from startup to scaleup. It now has over 70 employees and has international expansion plans.

"We are already represented internationally through our customers (manufacturers). We serve the EU ourselves, UK and US we will develop through distributors," he concludes.