Member Spotlight: Overdrive IOT
[(from Left to Right) Jeremy Tan (Tin Men), Zen Chin (Co-founder Overdrive), Aston Chia (Co-founder Overdrive), Benjamin Tan (Tin Men)]
SGTech(SGT): Hello Zen, thank you so much for taking time off your schedule to speak with us! Could you briefly share what Overdrive IOT does, and a little about your company’s history?
Zen Chin (ZC): Hi SGTech, thank you for this opportunity.
Overdrive is an IoT (Internet of Things) platform that manages the information flow from a multitude of sensors, ranging from complex machines such as an automobile to a simple mobile device. And from our cloud platform, companies can easily access this information to enhance their existing operations or collaborate with other developers to build new smart applications.
Overdrive was formed in 2015 with my university mate Aston. When we first started, we connect different types of automobiles, from buses, cars, prime movers, extending to people, containers, boxes, basically anything that moves. Typically, we help our customers to visualise and make sense of this huge amount of sensor data through web and mobile apps.
Shortly within a year, many of our customers began to engage us at a deeper level on how we can use various sensors and IoT to solve more complex problems.
One example is the School Bus System. Our customer provides school bus service for a few international schools in Singapore. The primary objective is to track the safety and ridership of young students who do not carry smartphones. We use a durable and simple-to-use sensor that they can take with them. For the student’s safety, the school requires the bus operator to verify the identity of the caretaker before handing over the child during and after school trips.
Initially, we deployed NFC stickers, and the child will have to tap on and off while boarding or alighting from the bus. Shortly after, we realise that many of these young children tend to forget about this, and that impacts data accuracy.
To solve this, we changed it by employing Bluetooth beacons and dropped it into their school bags. With our customised smart sensor and proprietary technology, everything has become seamless.
Since then, we have come up with solutions like,
• Deriving Estimated Time of Arrival for NTU campus, Sentosa, Science Park, and in the Philippines.
• Car Pool Sharing used by Ministry of Manpower
• Customer Loyalty System for an intercontinental car brand distributor in Malaysia
• Transport Operator Management System for a few major private bus operators in Singapore
SGT: Overdrive has been an SGTech member since you first started in 2015, and have participated in many SGTech activities and initiatives. How was your experience with us, and also share on how this helped on Overdrive’s journey?
ZC: We first joined SGTech (formerly known as SiTF) as a startup member under the 123JumpStart program. Through 123JumpStart, we applied to the iJAM Grant. We were shortlisted by the mentors, successfully completed our project and received funding from the iJam Grant. We also tried to pitch to potential investors in pitching sessions organised under the 123JumpStart program.
Occasionally through the EDMs, I will participate in events that range from latest government policies, innovation and intellectual property management updates, to sharing sessions by other speakers on their experiences operating in various overseas markets, as well as Meet-the-members sessions. There is a wealth of information from these events which some had helped us to make important, informed decisions.
In the past year, we have actively participated in several overseas exhibitions organised by SGTech, and with iMAP grant support, it certainly helps to defray some costs. These overseas exhibitions have definitely improved in our regional expansion, and we closed our first customer in the Philippines through one of the trade shows.
SGT: What does this Series A mean for Overdrive’s future?
ZC: Interestingly, we met our investor, Ben Tan, through 123Jumpstart, who voted in support of our idea and became our mentor and angel investor.
The funds from raising the A round obviously will help in many ways but more importantly is the reason why we chose each other. We spent time communicating and shared our vision of where we want to take Overdrive to. We wanted an investor to be aligned with our vision and is willing to commit more than just funds but also to formulate and put in concrete action plans to help us reach our goals.
Currently, this round of funding will help us to continue upgrading our platform, expand our technology capabilities and to keep our current and potential customers interested in our offerings. With Tin Men’s involvement, we will grow our business regionally focusing on logistics, facilities, transportation and people.
SGTech congratulates Overdrive IOT for their successful Series A. You may wish to learn more about the company via this link
