Sigfox-owner UnaBiz has closed a series B financing round at over $50m.

The extension round was led by Sparx Group and followed by GK Goh Holdings and Optimal Investment. The new financing was reserved for existing investors.

Earlier this year, the company acquired Sigfox, whose network connects over ten million sensors for more than 1500 B2B users through 70 national 0G operators worldwide.

After six months of integration, the company is ready to invest in sustainable product innovation, and strengthen its four key verticals – utilities, security, facilities management, and supply chain and logistics – across Latam, Apac and Emea.

“UnaBiz’s acquisition of the 0G technology significantly enhances and cements the group’s position as the global leader of massive IoT,” said Shuhei Abe, CEO of Sparx Group. “As the technology owner of the most energy-efficient LPWAN technology available on the market, UnaBiz is in a prime position to champion the convergence of massive IoT communication technologies from 0G to 5G to help enterprises achieve their digitalisation and sustainability goals.”

Sparx Group is an independent investment company based in Tokyo that manages over $10bn of assets. It is listed on Tokyo Stock Exchange.

“We are encouraged by the trust and confidence of our investors in this extension round despite the current economic climate,” said Henri Bong, co-CEO of UnaBiz. “With their strong support and the newly energised team that consists of key executives with deep expertise in technology, operations, sales and marketing, the UnaBiz team will work closely with and through our global partners and 0G operators around the world to drive massive IoT.”

Founded in 2016, UnaBiz is headquartered in Singapore with sales offices in Tokyo, Paris, Madrid and Rotterdam. It has two R&D centres, in Taipei, Taiwan, and France Labège. Post-acquisition, UnaBiz doubled its office locations and tripled in headcount. The company employs over 240 people worldwide.

“We are happy to increase our investment in UnaBiz as it accelerates its geographical reach following the acquisition of Sigfox,” said Goh Yew Lin, managing director, GK Goh Holdings, a Singapore-based investment company. “The company’s team has demonstrated focus, foresight and entrepreneurial energy, and we look forward to the next phases of its growth story.”

Philippe Chiu, co-CEO of UnaBiz, added: “Aside from the investments already planned to support business development in strategic markets, we will also use the fresh funds in research and development to further enhance the core low-power 0G capabilities as well as enable cost-effective long-range connectivity dedicated to very low-value assets. Our product portfolio will also be expanded to integrate more LPWAN and satellite technologies, ultimately providing aggregated and clean data through the UnaConnect service. The proliferation of new solutions aimed at a broader market will allow our customers to enjoy economies of scale and the freedom of choice when it comes to means of collecting data from physical assets; that is what the technology convergence movement is about.”

Sparx is an independent asset management firm that was founded in 1989.