Here’s why an IoT firm like Smartron invests in an Indian electric bike manufacturer

Smartron is an established IoT firm in India that had last year launched its first two products to help propagate its software ecosystem. The company’s focus on IoT also saw the launch of Tronx a unique software experience that provides a seamless experience across devices and places. But just being limited to smartphones and laptops seems to make little sense, as I found out in conversation with Co-founder and Chairman of Smartron, Mahesh Lingareddy. Smartron recently announced that it had invested in an Indian e-bike company Volta Motors. While Volta Motors will soon undergo a name change to Tron Motors, Lingareddy states that apart from stepping into a new vertical, it also opens broader avenues that deliver into not just content delivery, but also into ride-sharing. “This strategic investment and partnership gives us the ability to bring these electric vehicles to market quickly. This also gives Smartron an opportunity to push tronx platform into this vertical.” said Lingareddy, giving out details about the investment. But working with a Volta does not mean that the IoT firm will stick to e-bikes. The Chairman commented, **“**We see tremendous opportunities with electric vehicles as they become more intelligent with platforms like Tronx. The number of wheels is just a matter of time and opportunity.”  He told us that IoT platforms like Tronx will make electric vehicles more intelligent in terms of their ability to interact with other smart devices, deliver remote performance and functional management and even content delivery to vehicle owners. And he hinted that “New trends like ride sharing etc. becomes easier to manage with IoT enabled systems.” With Volta Motors, the idea is to bring the product (which is expected to be an example of IoT technology) from its current prototype state to market-ready at a quicker pace. We should expect Smartron to make a product-related announcement soon. But the potential of IoT need not be limited to just smartphones and appliances. Lingareddy sees his Tronx platform being applied to a variety of verticals from personal to health to energy to education to infrastructure and even farming, thanks to its software agnostic nature. Lastly, he also told us that a new version of the Tronx platform is on the horizon. With customers responding positively to the current Tronx 1.0, Smartron sees plenty of potential in the IoT space and will soon be introducing Tronx 2.0, which will build on the previous version and introduce some more seamless features and services.