Tire well being has a big impact on a truck’s gasoline effectivity and security on the highway.
And but, with all the arguably sexier options on the market providing driver help options and self-driving software program, tires don’t get the eye they deserve. At the least, so says Ron Lee, the top of enterprise improvement at BANF, a startup that builds {hardware} and software program to observe tire well being.
Korea-based BANF, which stands for Start A New Function, makes use of sensors to gather knowledge on tire stress, temperature, tread put on, wheel alignment, and even lug nut stability. That knowledge is analyzed utilizing machine studying to supply drivers and fleet managers with insights about not solely tire well being, but in addition cargo load measurement and highway floor situations. Lee says BANF’s insights are as much as 90% correct, and are helpful to everybody from fleet administration firms to OEMs to departments of transportation.
“Tires are the sole point of contact with the road,” Lee advised TechCrunch. “We’re not saying that we’re replacing vision-based methodologies of capturing potholes or road conditions, but we’re more of a complementary solution. We are more accurate at capturing road coefficient and also the depths of potholes, which is one of the key indexes that road management needs to know because they have limited budgets, so they have to know where to prioritize.”
The four-year-old startup, which has operations in Korea and China and plans to launch in Texas, is coming on-line at a time when autonomous vans are gaining a foothold on highways.
“Autonomous vehicles, their aim is to run 24/7 to maximize profit, which means more tire stress,” Lee mentioned, noting that electrical automobiles are additionally heavier on account of their batteries, which might put on down tires. “Tire data will be even more important in the future.”
Tire incumbents have embraced sensible tire tech in recent times, and so they’ve discovered clients in AV startups. Could Mobility and Kodiak Robotics each depend on Bridgestone’s in-wheel sensors and predictive algorithms for tire-health monitoring, and Gatik depends on Goodyear’s road-friction detection expertise. Bridgestone invested in startup Tyrata, a tire sensor and knowledge administration firm, in 2022, and Goodyear-backed Tactile Mobility, which makes use of digital sensors and cloud computing to estimate tire grip, in 2021.
BANF, which is competing within the TechCrunch Disrupt 2024 Startup Battlefield, has a considerably totally different answer from others within the trade. The principle piece of its {hardware} providing is a “triaxis” sensor that’s mounted to the inside liner of the tire and measures movement and forces alongside the X-axis, or size of the truck, like acceleration or deceleration; captures Y-axis side-to-side motion, like when the truck is popping or swerving; and measures the Z-axis, or up-and-down movement, of the truck, like bumps and highway vibrations.
The sensor additionally has stress and temperature sensors, and might ship uncooked knowledge by way of Bluetooth to the following little bit of {hardware} in BANF’s stack, the “smart profiler.”
The profiler acts as a transmitter, receiver, and charger multi functional. It attaches to the truck’s mud flap and is linked to the car’s battery so it may present wi-fi energy and a continuing energy provide to the sensors. It additionally facilitates the switch of sensor knowledge to wherever the consumer desires to obtain that knowledge, whether or not that be telematic gadgets, fleet administration gadgets, and even to the car’s onboard system for real-time monitoring and evaluation.
The entire system prices $50 per car per thirty days, says Lee. He additionally mentioned BANF’s tech might save fleet house owners as much as $4,500 per truck yearly on gasoline consumption and tire upkeep.
BANF is presently collaborating with Volvo Group, Hyundai Motor Group, and DHL on varied initiatives. Lee says BANF’s tech is presently on 123 automobiles, together with 4 passenger automobiles, with the remainder on Class 8 vans working in Sweden, the U.S., India, Korea, and China.
The chief mentioned BANF is working with main tire producers within the U.S. to commercialize the startup’s tech by way of a profit-sharing settlement by the top of 2026.
BANF raised a $5 million pre-Collection A final 12 months, and is near closing a $12 million Collection A spherical, based on Lee. BANF goals to start buying and selling on Korea’s inventory alternate on the finish of 2027, after which attempt its hand at a U.S. Nasdaq IPO. However Lee mentioned BANF is open to different exit alternatives.
“We have many exit options, and not just to the tire companies,” Lee mentioned. “We could be very beneficial to commercial vehicle manufacturers to win over market share. And also fleet management companies, telematic device companies, even insurance companies.”
