The Danish firm Onomondo is pitching SoftSIM as a new kind of SIM aimed at the IoT space and tied to the cloud.
Onomondo, based in Copenhagen, Denmark, today announced it’s launching its SoftSIM to make IoT devices a lot easier to set up. The global SoftSIM launch will happen in the first quarter of 2023.
Henrik Aagaard, co-founder and CTO of Onomondo, explains the difference between SoftSIM and eSIM. “An eSIM, or embedded SIM, is a physical SIM card that can be installed within a device in order to connect to a wireless network. eSIM, or eUICC, as in the software running on the physical SIM, is a software application which allows flexibility between carriers without the need to swap SIMs.”
The Onomondo SoftSIM completely removes the eUICC chip from the equation, according to Aagaard. Instead, the SIM is downloaded from the cloud onto a device itself. Once downloaded, it will use the existing CPU and memory within the microcontroller of an IoT device without the need to introduce additional hardware while offering network flexibility.
“The move to a plug and play software-based SIM from the eSIM is a huge development for the IoT industry. It has the potential to rapidly accelerate innovation and help the industry reach its full potential,” he told Fierce via email. “In our view, the SoftSIM is to IoT what the cloud was to the internet.”
Onomondo claims it has redesigned existing IoT connectivity architecture through integrating more than 700 operators at the Radio Access Network (RAN) level across more than 180 countries, as well as layering its own API-based IoT platform on top.
Data is transferred directly across the Onomondo virtual network to one of the firm’s cloud partners, which include Microsoft Azure, AWS, IBM Watson and more. Onomondo also works with Google, Aagaard said, but Google Cloud is phasing out the IoT core support in 2023.
In the U.S., Onomondo currently is offering cellular connectivity on Verizon, AT&T, Sprint, T-Mobile and UScellular, “and many other networks in the USA,” the company said. “We are constantly looking for new providers that can help our customers achieve their business goals.”
Earlier this year Onomondo closed a $21 million investment round, led by Verdane, a growth equity investment firm that specializes in scaling digital consumer, software and sustainable society businesses.
Onomondo said it’s leveraging the new funds to drive growth. The company plans to scale its team from 50 to 100 over the next year, helping to expand its customer base, which currently includes the likes of Bosch, Carlsberg and Maersk. The company told TechCrunch in July that it was adding about 50 new customers per quarter.
According to the company, the new positions will be based in Copenhagen and cover a range of areas including sales, marketing, tech, product and customer service.