Quuppa, a real-time location tracking startup, today announced its first ever round of funding, worth €20 million. The investors for the round are Finland-based private equity fund Bocap, which focuses on high-growth small and medium size enterprises, and Tech Consulting Group TCG Oy (TCG) with solid experience and track record of growing Finnish technology companies in the international market.
Since its establishment in 2012, Quuppa’s ‘Intelligent Locating System’ enables customers in a variety of industries to accurately and reliably locate Bluetooth-enabled devices. Its unique methodology and positioning algorithms enable real-time tracking with centimetre-level accuracy.
Its technology is used in several vertical markets, including manufacturing, healthcare, smart buildings and even in sports. The location tracking system has improved the production and operational efficiency in many factories and warehouses globally.
Quuppa has already deployed more than 2000 location-based service solutions and has over 170 partners worldwide. In addition to Finland, Quuppa has offices in the United States, China, Australia and the United Arab Emirates.
So far, Quuppa has enjoyed a healthy run of growth and cashflow, reaching a revenue of €10 million. Now the company aims at using the raised funds into taking a bigger leap into global markets.
“With the new investment, we are able to scale up our services, support our global partner network better and further develop our technology and services. Our aim is to grow from €10 million to €100 million in five years and establish our position as a market leader”, says Kimmo Kalliola, CEO and Founding Partner of Quuppa.
The global market for RTLS (Real-Time Locating Systems) is expected to reach €7.5 billion by 2023, at an annual growth rate of 22.5 %, according to a recent press release by Quuppa. For this reason, the investors in this round strongly believe in Quuppa’s potential and are willing to contribute in both equity and strong expertise.
“Bocap is very excited about Quuppa. The company perfectly matches our focus on ambitious entrepreneurs looking for significant global growth on a profitable basis within a horizon of 3 to 5 years”, says Vilma Torstila, Partner of Bocap.
The healthcare sector is also growing rapidly with end users such as Fukui University Hospital in Japan. As the location tags can be integrated with pulse measurement, oximetry, and blood pressure measurement devices, the system can provide cross-functional benefits for the industry.
“We are thrilled about the various use cases of Quuppa’s indoor positioning platform. If the system can track a hockey puck flying over 100 mph in real time it shows how robust the technology is,” said Risto Virkkala from TCG.
The COVID-19 pandemic has increased the demand for location-based technologies in healthcare and more broadly as companies across industries are trying to find ways of safely reopening factories, construction sites, sports stadiums and offices. Quuppa can help to combat the spread of viruses through its applications for social distancing, contact tracing and process monitoring.
“Quuppa’s technology not only improves the efficiency of smart factories and buildings but also improves the life of ordinary people as we have seen in hospitals, elderly care, and in the fight against Covid-19”, says CEO Kimmo Kalliola.