As we bid farewell to another year, we also say goodbye to all the battles and victories we experienced in 2023.
It was a challenging yet fruitful year for us. As a team, LORIOT has welcomed new members, announced innovative product enhancements and a new business division. What a year!
As LORIOT's voice in the digital world, it is my responsibility to communicate these achievements to our communities, ensuring that each message adds value and highlights the care and excellence that LORIOT puts into every project.
To achieve these goals and bring my experience to the table effectively as a new LORIOT member, I had to study our solutions in detail and dive into the complex but captivating world of IoT. It wasn't easy, but determination and perseverance (values that characterise the LORIOT team), as well as the support of my colleagues, helped me.
Today, more deeply integrated into our dynamic workforce, I reflect on the wealth of knowledge gained and eagerly anticipate the challenges the new year will bring, fuelled by enthusiasm and focus.
As we embark on the end-of-year celebrations, I've invited each of our managers to also share their reflections on the triumphs of 2023 and their aspirations for the coming year. Their work constantly pushes the boundaries of what we can achieve, and leads the collective capabilities of our team as the driving force that turns LORIOT into the renowned company that it is today.
I invite our readers to dive into the unique perspectives of each one of our managers, offering a glimpse into our efforts and the shared vision that propels LORIOT forward.
Leading the strategy of a well-established company is challenging.
It requires the ability to understand technological evolution and market trends to identify potential opportunities. Defining a strategy that aligns with the company’s values and vision is only the first step. You then need to determine the best way to ground it and establish KPIs to measure its success. I couldn't be prouder of what we managed to do in 2023 in this regard.
Among various adaptations, internal process improvements, and new projects, the birth of LORIOT Verso stands out as our main strategic achievement. This new venture within the LORIOT family focuses on Environmental Monitoring and Disaster Prevention, which perfectly aligns with our vision for a connected world that not only delivers efficiency but also contributes to the well-being of our environment.
LORIOT Verso will pioneer solutions that empower communities and businesses to monitor and mitigate environmental risks, fostering a more resilient and sustainable future. I am excited to see what we can accomplish with the solutions that this division will bring to the market in 2024.
Finally, of course, we are committed to continuing our trajectory of growth, innovation, and positive impact.
Innovation is hard work. It takes experience, intuition, know-how, and a bit of luck. Not every intuition turns out to be a winner, but that is part of the game, and innovation remains a crucial part of the process.
That’s why I can proudly say that at the heart of our success lies the commitment of our team to constant innovation. We envision LORIOT not only as a provider of cutting-edge solutions but as a driving force behind the evolution of IoT technology.
It requires dedication and patience because sometimes the fruits of innovation are reaped after a while. This year has been a year of both seeding and harvesting. Our seeds have grown into robust plants that are beginning to bear fruit. I’m talking for example about mioty, we released our hybrid solution as the first movers in the market that is now responding with increasing interest and traction. I hope the harvest will be abundant in the year to come.
Our best achievement In 2023? I have no doubt: our growing ecosystem of partnerships and the further establishment as the go-to Network Management System provider for enterprise networks.
For me, our real success lies in the ever-expanding network of collaborations, way ahead of just reaching the challenging revenue targets we set ourselves. In the IoT, the role of the salesperson goes beyond sealing deals; it’s an advisory role and we are aware that our Network Management System is only one component of a successful IoT solution.
We build strategic partnerships in the IoT market, like a chain that connects complementary players to ensure our success, our partner's success, and deliver top-notch solutions to our customers. At the Sales team, we value these relationships and work to maintain them, both in business development and community participation at events worldwide.
Looking ahead to 2024, constantly evolving landscape of IoT offers us opportunities to innovate, adapt, and elevate our solutions to new heights. We eagerly anticipate facing these challenges alongside our partners.
Building a successful product is not an easy task, it requires making several key choices. Throughout this year, my team and I have faced many of these choices, striving to find a balance between competing needs: The requirements of today's market and those of tomorrow, the complexity of a feature-rich solution, and the importance of user-friendliness.
To achieve this, we have remained close to our core principles: Security, scalability, performance, and reliability. As a result, I believe that our advances have been remarkable.
One year ago, we released Hummingbird, the first version of our Hybrid Network Management System. Since then, we have continued to improve it, and it is now available in version 8.1. Additionally, we have made our mioty service center available for free on our community servers to offer our users a new way to explore the mioty technology. Finally, we also have introduced our LoRaWAN Roaming Hub and Payload Decoder.
Looking ahead to 2024, I anticipate even more challenging decisions and new feature enhancements to improve integration with other systems. We will keep working on our Roaming project, as well as expanding our product portfolio with the FOUTA server to manage the firmware update of the device.
Based on our track record, I am confident that we will be able to sort our new goals out successfully and continue pushing the IoT's boundaries.
2023 was a year of transformation and consolidation for the marketing team. This allowed us to explore new opportunities and new projects while strengthening our daily activities.
Our work was threefold: firstly, we focused on effectively describing our product and its features, showcasing customers' use cases, and highlighting our partnerships. Secondly, we focused on the present, by contributing to forge new partnerships, ensuring our presence at international events as exhibitors and speakers, and organizing webinars and digital workshops.
Finally, we look towards the future. We faced challenges with the new division, LORIOT Verso, and embarked on a new project that is still in the oven but will hopefully be a great surprise in 2024.
Over the years, since LORIOT was established, we have built a solid foundation and earned an excellent reputation. Moving forward into 2024, the Marketing area's main objective is to meet the expectations of our community, customers, partners, and supporters, consistently delivering communication and initiatives that align with the reputation of our brand.
My dual role, as a CFO and HR Manager, corresponds to a dual perspective on the company's performance during the year. From the CFO's point of view, I am quite satisfied with what has been achieved this year. The forecasts at the beginning of the year proved to be accurate, and we had steady revenue growth and have achieved our objectives.
Our main challenge for 2024 is to assess the return on investment we made since WIKA became our partner a year and a half ago. We will continue analyzing our performance and expenses carefully to keep us on the right track and guarantee the success of our investments.
As HR Manager, I am extremely enthusiastic about what we have built so far. During 2023 the team has grown like never before. Not just in the number of people but also in creating new roles within the organization. Consequently, we have faced a double challenge. Firstly, finding individuals who have the right skills to fulfill the roles (both existing and new ones). Secondly, look for people with mindsets and values that match our corporate culture.
This last requirement is something we always want to preserve as it has proven to make the onboarding phase fast and smooth, and it helps us to keep enjoying a positive work environment.
As part of our corporate culture, one particular thing that I cherish is our cultural diversity. For me, is an added value for the company and each one of our employees as it allows us to see things from different perspectives when approaching a task or problem. And the most interesting thing is that in the end we always end up talking about food!
We always aim to improve, and our financial and HR team is no exception. For 2024 I wish for further growth. Personal growth for each of us, our team, and, of course, our finances.
This year has been nothing short of spectacular as we experienced a substantial expansion in many directions that makes me feel extremely proud. Let me mention just 3 of them, real milestones, for our company.
First, the growth of our infrastructure: The number of sensors connected to our Netowrk Management System around the world nearly doubled during the year. This is the result of new customers, new projects, and the expansion of existing solutions that are transforming so many sectors. Currently, the majority of sensors are LoRaWAN, but mioty is on the rise.
Second, this year we expanded our global presence by opening new business opportunities in the dynamic landscape of Saudi Arabia and the Middle East. This strategic move aligns with our vision to bring LORIOT excellence to every corner of the globe. We anticipate that these projects will contribute to doubling or even surpassing the overall deployment size.
Third, we acquired an IoT Solution Provider and launched a new division dedicated to vertical solutions. A universe of opportunities just waiting to be explored.
This expansion into new markets (both vertically and horizontally), and the growth of worldwide deployments are mostly attributed to my team, to whom all credit is due. From product development to sales, support, communication, and operations, our team's dedication and innovative spirit are the driving force behind our success.
As we approach the festive season and the dawn of a new year, my gratitude extends to each member of the LORIOT community — our talented team, our strategic partner and investor WIKA with whom we have an extremely positive cooperation, our supportive partners, and our clients. I am confident that our collective endeavors will propel us to even greater heights in the coming year.
May the holiday season bring joy, warmth, and well-deserved moments of rest. Here's to a New Year filled with continued success, innovation, and the shared pursuit of excellence.
Wishing you and your loved ones a joyful holiday season and a prosperous New Year!
