As the growth of IoT continues to disrupt and change business landscapes around the economic world, one particular area is being considered a lucrative and important battleground: resorts and hotels. The hospitality industry is preparing to open their wallets for smart home devices to lure travelers. According to MarketsandMarkets, the smart hospitality market is expected to grow from $5.74 Billion in 2016 to $18.11 Billion by 2021, at a compound annual growth rate of 25.8%. One of the key drivers of that robust growth is the increasing adoption of Internet of Things (IoT) & energy management systems.
Smart home devices improve the comfort-level for weary guests, but also provide data on a bevy of customer insights like utility usage and resource tracking, benefiting the industry’s bottom line by increasing the efficiency of operations. One diverse company that has been ahead of the curve and ready to answer the call for the hospitality sector is Lomiko Metals, Inc. (LMR:CA)(LMRMF)(FSE:DH8C.F). Through its subsidiary, Lomiko Technologies, and its partners SHD Smart Home Devices Ltd MegaHertz Power Systems Ltd., have developed the Spider Charger®, a unique smart home device that is perfect for hotels, new homes, condos and offices.
A Charger that Outsmarts Your Old Wall Plug
The Spider Charger® has six USB ports and two regular AC wall receptacles on its face plate. The smart home charger was built to be décor friendly, easy to install, similar in appearance to regular AC outlets despite its increased range of function and compatible with pre-existing smart home systems on the market. Furthermore, and most importantly for hotel managers, power consumption and user data is acquired and transmitted to the gateway for energy savings and home automation management.
“I think the amazing thing about this particular device is that it is seamless,” said A. Paul Gill CEO of Lomiko Metals and VP of Business Development for SHD. “It will adapt to firmware already in existence and can be programmed using open source software, so it is a very versatile product. The Spidercharger will replace a normal wall plug, it will have connectivity to wireless networks, security protocols that we can program into it, and in addition to that you can reprogram them and have them communicate with mobile devices. So, really this is a multitasking device.”
Moreover, Lomiko and SHD Smart Home just announced discussions with U.S.-based distributor, Automated Building Devices, to begin selling the device to builders primarily in the Western states.
“With a partner like ABD, SHD will have a distribution channel to some of the largest home builders in California and Nevada. Working with ABD would be a strategic move by SHD to leverage an existing network and rapidly penetrate the market,” stated Sat Samra, CEO SHD Smart Home Devices.
The news of locating a U.S. distributor followed the exciting announcement that SHD had raised $5 million from a private equity group to develop and manufacture additional smart home devices.
“The new investment will be targeted at developing sales, increasing manufacturing capabilities and building out further products in the Smart Home and Internet of Things (IoT) industry,” Gill added. “The products will allow customers to increase the ‘Wow’ factor for our target market of new home, condos, hotel and office builders.”
The Spider Charger®, which was recently trademarked, is just the first of many versatile IoT products from Lomiko and SHD. Future products include Wi-Fi and Bluetooth connectivity hubs, Wi-Fi range extenders and even a light switch that doubles as a security camera. SHD Smart Home Devices was established to provide a commercial gateway for technology developed at the MHPS Innovation Lab. The intellectual property being developed by these inventive teams is ideal for industrial builders and hotels because they focus on power savings, connectivity and user security.
“SHD has an incredible opportunity to participate in a burgeoning IoT and Smart Device market,” Gill commented. “Major companies such as Leviton, Legrand, Pass and Seymour and others have recognized this new market and have launched similar devices.”
Several manufacturers have indeed recognized the upcoming IoT smart home boom and created voice-activated smart dimmers and thermostats, but few products directly target that the hotel and office sectors. Lomiko and SHD plan to roll out the SpiderCharger to hotel builders, condo builders and office contractors and then introduce the product to the 130 million households across North America. According to Allied Market Research, the SpiderCharger fits into a $35-billion-dollar IoT market that is growing at a 30% annual pace. According to the company, if only one or two USB charging devices are installed in new homes and retro-fitted into current homes undergoing renovations, there will be a healthy demand for the SpiderCharger and that does not include places like coffee shops that could also see a need for a device like this.
A Link Fulfilled in the Value Chain
The launch of the SpiderCharger is a long time coming for Lomiko and demonstrates the company’s dedication, diverse portfolio and keen ability to raise money.
Primarily, Lomiko multi-pronged business spectrum is focused on its graphite production arm. The company’s wholly-owned La Loutre Flake Graphite project in Southern Quebec continues to progress toward its Pre-Economic Assessment. In March this year, the company released high-grade graphite results and discovered an area of mineralization to be 200 meters wide coupled with a strike length over 400 meters northwest to southeast. Similarly, in February, the company released high-grade results of 7.67% flake graphite (Cg) over 85 meters, including 13.09% graphite over 31.50 meters from hole LL-16-06.Gill and his mining team are exploring the extremely large property at La Loutre and then will advantageously report their PEA.
In fact, the growing electric car market will provide plenty of opportunities for Lomiko. On average there is 15 times the amount of flake graphite, a high-purity and large crystal sub-group of the metal, in a lithium-ion battery that actual lithium. So, Gill and his team have their hands not only in the production of the mineral at the ground-level, but all the way down the supply chain to the final product on the shelf.
The fruition of the SpiderCharger is evidence of the company’s concerted business model that has the ability to score profits from both ends of a technology boom. Without a doubt, Lomiko has shown itself to be a company that sees market trends ahead of the pack and we can expect more milestones ahead in the near future for Gil and his team.
“The ultimate goal is leaning towards vertical integration,” Gill told Equities. “We want to create opportunities in which we have a knowledge of where the minerals are extracted, and also an eye on where the minerals are going to be used in the end product. So, we want to be able to cover that entire value chain of the product.
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