AT&T Names Winner of Second Fast Pitch Competition at IoT Evolution Expo

By Ken Briodagh, Editorial Director

Competition drives innovation, I’m told, and it’s certainly proved to be the truth at the second annual Fast Pitch by AT&T (News - Alert) competition, held this week at IoT Evolution Expo, at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas. The winner of the $10,000 grand prize was Pix Controller, a company with an innovative energy IoT solution.

There were 10 finalists selected for the final live pitch session from more than 60 who initially auditioned. The finalists each did a three-minute live pitch for their IoT solution, and the three AT&T executives from the company’s IoT division evaluated each before selecting a winner.

The winner of the $10,000 grand prize was announced on August 19 in the keynote theatre. Another of the finalists will win the People’s Choice award, to be selected via voting online, and announced soon.

Bill Powers, CEO, Pix Controller, did the final winning pitch. He outlined the huge problem his company is confronting: global methane emissions. The solution is called the “Remote Monitor CH4” and it is a real-time, continuous methane gas monitor, designed to identify gas leaks throughout the pipeline and energy supply chain, especially in no power, no Internet remote deployments. The system sends real-time alerts to a cloud-based analytics dashboard, helping supply companies avoid leaks (and therefore losses) and prevent this valuable and dangerous greenhouse gas from escaping into the atmosphere.  It is self-installable, runs on solar power and is satellite and cellular connective. And it only costs about $2,500 per unit. And now is 10 grand richer than it was yesterday.

The other nine competitors were:

TygaTrax Systems, a mobile RFID package tracking system;

Your IoE(yiofe), a cloud-based connectivity platform;

TripDots, a mileage tracking app for expense reporting;

Zillionsource, a global shipping container monitoring solution;

Accelerated and its cloud-based solution to prevent DDOS problems in disaster situations;

Able Device, a smart SIM that controls software for better command and security;

SS7Ware presented a connectivity base station;

John OS Project is a universal translator between devices, platforms and end executions;

and WiseWear is trying to bring some style to the wearables markets.

Mobeen Khan, director of mobility marketing at AT&T said that, in addition to working with winner Pix Controller, the company has also set up meetings with several other finalists for further discussion of how they can partner with AT&T.