Interview with Yann Straub, SigFox Russia CTO & Co-Founder
“Sigfox — is not only about the technology of IoT that we’d like to implement in Russia, it’s about doing business in a different way”
Today IoT technologies are entering the world in a very active way. It was first only B2C, but now full speed touching the B2B world. Thanks to them we can see how many parking places there are left in front of the museum or how much pollen there is in Moscow today and much more. French Tech met with Yann Straub, CTO and Cofounder of Sigfox Russia — operator of the Sigfox 0G network — and asked him about this transformation of the world today.
Yann is a French who has lived in Russia since 2005. He graduated from Bauman Moscow State Technological University and worked in Schneider Electric company in the city of Samara and then as an advisor in the field of energy transformation. In 2019 he and his partner Eric Brisset created 2 IoT operator — Sigfox Russia and 0G baltics in Lithuania and Latvia — all based on 0G technology from Sigfox.
Yann, could you tell me about Sigfox in general? Is this company famous in France or worldwide?
Sigfox is a French technology company that was created in 2010 and now has clients everywhere in the world, with operators in 71 countries, and revenue of more than 50 Mln EUR. Sigfox builds wireless networks to connect low-power objects that need to be continuously on and emit small amounts of data with very low level of energy.They call it 0G technology in opposition to 5G and big volume of data.
Sigfox helps customers to mass capture and extract data from millions of asset connected through the sigfox network — we call it mass IOT. This can be the estimation of the level of oxygene in one room in a day care center, tracking of people attending the conference or of cargo going from one point to another. The application are illimited.
The IT-solution provided by Sigfox can transport the data collected by the devices to different platform that will transform it into comprehensible facts that describe and advice the customer about actions to be taken. So sometimes this process can really optimise the work with significant insights. That’s why I prefer to say that Sigfox is not only a technology, it’s about changing the way of doing business. This is by the way key — IOT will only be profitable, only if we create new business models.
How did you get the idea of opening your company in Moscow? Is russian market of Smart City and IoT in general promising?
I have lived and worked in Russia from 2005, so I even consider myself sometimes as Russian too. I like the rhythm of this country, it’s very dynamic. There are many smart people, brilliant engineers in Russia that are interested in the new technologies, so it was a great opportunity to bring to the market a leading open technology allowing local people to develop their own solution thanks to industrialised environments provided by Sigfox.
Sigfox Russia is an absolutely independent company from Sigfox Corp. We have our own strategy and investors — our only common target is by getting as much connection as possible. Sigfox Russia, as a local IOT provider, installs the base stations, maintain the infrastructure to warranty SLA and transmits data through the Sigfox’s network and creates a community of local startups that provide the local solutions and new services using IOT as a tool.
The Russian market of IoT is very promising. You can have a look at Moscow city now and see how many technologies are already used here: smart parking, public transport’s tracking, etc. You can pay by bank card everywhere: in shops, in the subway, which is not always really possible even in France. I estimate that the market of M2M ( all technology RF & cable) in Russia will reach more to 1 Mrd connections of IoT in a few years.
Sigfox Russia focuses on three markets: transports, security and office optimisation.
What problems did you face in Russia as a foreign entrepreneur? What advice can you give to a French willing to create business in Russia?
As a Sigfox operator the first problem that we faced were the frequencies. The European frequencies are not allowed in Russia, so mostly all the devices used by Sigfox in Europe can not work here. So we had to adapt the Russian frequency and to co-work with devices-makers only from Russia, and then create the community of IoT players here. This is eventually even an opportunity to accelerate the local business here and create local future IOT stars mastering 0G technologies.
There is also a problem of lack of some regulations in the sphere of IoT in Russia that slows down a part of our job.
Of course we have local competitors on this market, so we try from one side to open new possibilities for us, and from the other side to try to collaborate with our competitors as partners and it’s not easy but it makes the job more interesting and challenging.
As for the advice to foreigners arriving here, I would suggest to learn much about Russian culture, to speak their language, and really be “into” these things. The Russians are relationals, it’s very important to emphasize to them. They are also very fast, so it’s better to be ready to reply quickly to your clients. And as I mentioned before they are very smart and educated, to convince them to buy your product you must know very well the technology that you’re selling.
Sigfox Russia is just an example of a company with the approach of two cultures — Russian and French. We speak Russian, we localise the French technology, but in strong collaboration with local device makers and clients.
The formal side of starting a business in Russia is quite simple, you can create your company and have all the papers within a week, which very differs from the months of waiting in France.
Is Sigfox connected to French Tech Moscow?
I know this community well and think that it’s very useful for French entrepreneurs in Moscow. I participated in some events as a speaker and I’d like to continue that way! The french tech is a unique opportunity to generate more business together and show that France has fantastic entrepreneurs that will found in Russia fantastic business opportunities and partners with local applications
More info on Sigfox Russia here: https://sigfoxrussia.com/eng
