About

Manually logging analogue meter data is a costly and time grinding procedure. Many labor hours plus lack of timely information about network's current status add up a huge cost to the overall procedure. Various industries in electricity, gas and water distribution management try to deal with this issue. Our company is developing a device capable of eliminating this problem.

Solution & Product

We design and develop an add-on device that retrofits existing analogue meters transforming them to IoT (Internet of Things) devices. Hence, there will be no need for manual data logging or human intervention in the process of metering. Also due to well-timed information, leakages can be detected faster thus minimizing losses and potential threats. Our device uses a camera to capture a photo of the readings, uses AI (Artificial Intelligence) software to convert the readings to digital data and uploads them real-time to a cloud server via a specialized low power wide area network. All the components of the device are designed in a way which maximizes battery life span to approximately 10 years.

Innovation & Scalability

Our product uses state of the art technologies. The specialized camera which takes the photo, the AI algorithm that recognizes the numbers and converts them to data and, the utilization of a low power wide area network protocol for the data trasmission, prove the innovative characteristics of our solution. Our key differentiator is the ability of our device to trasmit data wirelessly in real time without the need of human intervention. Currently, there is no other solution in the market hosting this feature. Our focus will be on public and private sector organizations, managing distribution networks, as well as various municipalities in Greece. Our product can also be oriented to other energy networks (natural gas, electricity) and be promoted in foreign markets that adopt smart digital solutions to measure and monitor networks. The communication protocols of IoT devices are international, so all that is left is the translation and parameterization of the system based on the respective implementation body.

Traction & achievements

Since the creation MCI IKE two major accomplishments have been met. Our first accomplishment is the successful deal with VENETIS ABEET, a major player in the food and catering industry, installing our retail software to over 100 of the companys 120 stores and canteens, with more than 400 counters in total. Our retail software covers all the essential needs of an SME (Small-Medium Enterprise) from cashier and back-office operations to procedures such as exchange of data and information like price lists, new product catalogues, sales figures with the Headquarters. Our second achievement was the signing of a contract with the biggest water management and supply organization in Greece, to provide them the PDAs and develop the software needed for the data logging of the water meters. Up until today, more than 1 million bills are carried out every month based on our software.

Team & Why Us

Andreas Vlachos is the founder of MCI IKE. He holds a Bachelors degree in Human Resources Management from the American College of Greece and is responsible for dealing and managing on the collaborators of our project. Chris Vlachos is the Project Leader and Head Developer. He is responsible for the overall system architecture and software design. He holds a a Master's degree in Applied Physics from the National Technical University of Athens and is currently completing his PhD thesis in gravitational waves in modified theories of gravity. Our unique value proposition is "A New Era in Metering" which reflects our vision of deploying the latest technological tools to promote human safety,energy efficiency and environmental awareness.

Funding Needs

Our investing needs concentrate on research and development costs to design and test the product, costs associated with obtaining any necessary patents or certifications, manufacturing costs, including the cost of materials and labor, marketing and advertising expenses to promote the product and costs associated with setting up a supply chain and distribution network. Based on our business plan we need 1M euro funding.