No one can accuse Sigfox of thinking small.
Since the Toulouse-based company announced its then-record €100 Million round of venture financing in February 2015, the company has been pressing hard to made good on its plans for global expansion.
It’s move to enter the U.S. market last year was one of its biggest gambles. But even by Sigfox’s standards, that pace has quickened in recent months.
The company, which operates a telecommunications networks optimized for Internet of Things devices, made its biggest splash yet when it grabbed headlines by striking a deal with Microsoft. By allowing customers of Sigfox to plug directly into Microsoft’s Azure cloud services, the company believes users will be able to more efficiently use and develop their IOT applications.
Having a global partner like Microsoft is a coup for a company like Sigfox, which currently operates in 14 countries but has much grander ambitions. Indeed, the company announced last week it would soon New Zealand and Australia to that roster.
That follows in short order announcements that Sigfox was moving into the Czech Republic, Germany, and France’s overseas territories. And the company announced the hiring of a new executive, Roswell Wolff, who will be based in Singapore and will lead its expansion in Asia.
As such, Sigfox is making a bid to be one of France’s most well-known startup names around the globe. The challenge now is whether they can maintain this momentum and continue to raise the money they need, find the right partners, and attract an ecosystem of developers.
Oh, and handle the attention and scrutiny that comes with being one of the hottest startups from a country like France that is hungry to demonstrate it is fertile ground to build world-changing companies.
In other words, no pressure.