Knorr-Bremse and existing shareholders led by QVIDTVM invest a combined CHF 76 million
Nexxiot’s solutions to help drive digitalization of market-leading rail supplier Knorr-Bremse’s systems and solutions by capturing real-time data and generating insights to drive forward digital products and services for the passenger and freight train markets
Munich/Zürich, May 31st, 2022 – Nexxiot, the global TradeTech pioneer, today announced Knorr-Bremse, the global market leader for braking systems and other rail and commercial vehicle systems, as a new customer and strategic investor. In a major deal that will shape the future of rail transportation, Knorr-Bremse and its North American subsidiaries New York Air Brake and Knorr Brake Company will integrate Nexxiot’s IoT hardware and software into its future rail products and the systems it produces, proactively driving digital connectivity into its vast railroad customer base. By connecting Knorr-Bremse‘s rail brakes, doors, HVAC, sanitary and other systems with Nexxiot’s digital ecosystem, Knorr-Bremse’s customers will benefit from increased vehicle availability, optimized lifecycle costs and greater operational efficiency. The company will also further strengthen its position as one of the most innovative rail suppliers, delivering compelling new insights and digital services to its customers.
Knorr-Bremse becomes a strategic minority investor in Nexxiot. Leading investment management firm QVIDTVM, led by Burak Alici, and existing shareholders have topped their investment.
“As a core element in our strategy, we’re using digitalization to leverage our already strong position in safety- and mission-critical rail vehicle systems, and to generate further growth and strong profitability,” explains Dr. Jürgen Wilder, Member of the Executive Board of Knorr-Bremse AG and responsible for the Rail Vehicle Systems division. “Together with Nexxiot’s dedicated team, we’re now pressing ahead with our ambition to add further value for our customers. By combining our systems technology with Nexxiot’s digital ecosystem, we’re creating a win-win scenario that will boost vehicle availability and lower the total cost of fleet ownership by leveraging a new generation of data-based services.”
Global rail freight activity has steadily increased over the past 20 years, but the rail freight industry lacks the real-time visibility and data needed to accelerate optimization. Of the five million rail cars globally only approximately eight percent are digitized, representing a massive IoT retrofitting and digitization opportunity for the industry. Based on the real-time analysis of rail data in Nexxiot’s ecosystem, Knorr-Bremse will be able to precisely project systems’ state of health and maintenance needs. In effect, clients will be able to service their fleets more proactively and cost-efficiently by taking advantage of Condition-Based and Predictive Maintenance.
Knorr-Bremse will deploy the Nexxiot Globehopper LINK device that detects the status of some of the most crucial parts of a railcar, including doors and brakes, and sends the data to the cloud. Nexxiot processes this data using proprietary algorithms and Big Data analytics to create new business intelligence and data driven services for all stakeholders across the value network.
Globehopper LINK
This IoT technology will allow operators to automate critical business processes and gain myriad new insights to drive a step change in efficiency, sustainability, customer service and profitability. Train parts that have not been monitored in real-time become digitally visible and accessible.
“This partnership with Knorr-Bremse, a leading supplier of rail vehicle systems, will help us build the best products and services for the industry. Together, we aim to accelerate the digitalization of key areas like rail freight and automation services. At the same time, we’ll also be able to speed up our own expansion in the rail industry and continue our strong growth,” adds Stefan Kalmund, CEO of Nexxiot. “Specifically, our sensors and scalable cloud-based platform help turn rolling stock assets into connected, data-generating industrial objects. Leveraging rail data in real-time will be a key success factor in helping make rail and rail services fit for the future.”
Nexxiot Leading in Cross-Modal IoT Deployment and Global Freight Visibility
Nexxiot is becoming a dominant IoT provider in the multi-modal global freight transport market. On April 26, 2022, Nexxiot announced another major deal with Hapag-Lloyd, a top five ocean carrier, to equip a significant share of the company’s 3 million TEU ocean container fleet with Nexxiot’s technology. The combination of the deals with Hapag-Lloyd and Knorr-Bremse represent the world’s largest cross-modal IoT deployment for the Maritime and Rail industry to date. This promises unprecedented visibility into the location and status of cargo as it moves through the global supply chain and brings the innovation required to counteract current global supply chain pressures. Nexxiot is a leading provider of IoT technology for railcars, with over 200,000 connected vehicles in Europe alone, representing more than 25% of European fleets. Nexxiot expects to digitalize more than 2 million railcars and intermodal containers globally by 2024.
About Knorr-Bremse:
Knorr-Bremse (ISIN: DE000KBX1006, ticker symbol: KBX) is the global market leader for braking systems and other systems for rail and commercial vehicles. Knorr-Bremse’s products make a decisive contribution to greater safety and energy efficiency on rail tracks and roads around the world. About 30,500 employees at over 100 sites in more than 30 countries use their competence and motivation to satisfy customers worldwide with products and services. In 2021, Knorr-Bremse’s two divisions together generated revenues of EUR 6.7 billion. For more than 115 years the company has been the industry innovator, driving developments in mobility and transportation technologies with an edge in connected system solutions. Knorr-Bremse is one of Germany’s most successful industrial companies and profits from the key global megatrends: Urbanization, Sustainability, Digitalization and Mobility.
About Nexxiot:
Nexxiot is a TradeTech pioneer with a mission to enable easier, safer, and cleaner transportation for all stakeholders in the global supply chain. Nexxiot’s IoT hardware, software and analytics create transparency to improve efficiency and preserve value across supply networks. The technology mitigates risks to people, infrastructure and cargo and reduces emissions and waste.
The company empowers carriers, cargo owners and other transportation participants to monitor the location, status and conditions of their assets and cargo in real-time, anywhere in the world. Sophisticated Big Data analytics delivers business intelligence at scale to drive efficiency, process automation and achieve sustainability targets.
Headquartered in Zurich, Nexxiot operates throughout Europe and the U.S., with an international team of employees from 28 countries. For more information, visit www.nexxiot.com.
Press Contacts:
Nexxiot
Felix Zimmermann, Medienbüro am Reichstag for Europe
felix.zimmermann@nullmar-berlin.de
Nick Fryer, FINN Partners for US
nick.fryer@nullfinnpartners.com