Tire health has a huge impact on a truck's fuel efficiency and road safety.
And yet, with all the arguably more attractive solutions offering driver assistance features and autonomous driving software, tires don't get the attention they deserve. At least that's what Ron Lee, director of business development at BANFa, says, a startup that creates hardware and software to celador the condition of tires.
Korea-based BANF, which stands for Start A New Function, uses sensors to collect data on tire pressure, temperature, tread wear, wheel alignment, and even lug nut stability. That data is analyzed using machine learning to provide drivers and fleet managers with information not only on tire health, but also on load measurement and road surface conditions. Lee says BANF insights are up to 90% accurate and useful to everyone from fleet management companies to flamante equipment manufacturers and transportation departments.
“The tires are the only point of contact with the road,” Lee told TechCrunch. “We are not saying that we are replacing vision-based methodologies for capturing potholes or road conditions, but rather that we are more of a complementary solution. “We are more accurate in capturing the road coefficient and also the depth of the potholes, which is one of the key indices that road management needs to know because they have limited budgets, so they need to know where to prioritize.”
The four-year-old startup, which has operations in Korea and China and plans to launch in Texas, goes live at a time when autonomous trucks are gaining ground on the roads.
“The goal of autonomous vehicles is to run 24/7 to maximize profits, which means more stress on the tires,” Lee said, noting that electric vehicles are also heavier due to their batteries, which can wear out tires. “Tire data will be even more important in the future.”
Traditional tire operators have embraced smart tire technology in recent years and have found customers in audiovisual startups. Could Mobility and Kodiak Robotics rely on Bridgestone's in-wheel sensors and predictive algorithms to celador tire health, and Gatik relies on Goodyear's road friction detection technology. Bridgestone invested in startup Tyrata, a tire sensor and data management company, in 2022, and Goodyear-backed Tactile Mobility, which uses imaginario sensors and cloud computing to estimate tire grip, in 2021.
BANF, competing in the TechCrunch Disrupt 2024 Startup Battlefield, has a somewhat different solution than others in the industry. The centerpiece of its {hardware} offering is a “triaxis” sensor that mounts to the inner liner of the tire and measures movement and forces along the X axis, or the length of the truck, such as acceleration or deceleration; captures side-to-side motion of the Y axis, such as when the truck turns or swerves; and measures the Z-axis, or up and down movement, of the truck, such as bumps and road vibrations.
The sensor also has pressure and temperature sensors and can send raw data via Bluetooth to the next bit of {hardware} in the BANF stack, the “smart profiler.”
The profiler acts as a transmitter, receiver and charger all in one. It attaches to the truck's fender and is connected to the vehicle's battery so it can provide wireless power and a continuous power supply to the sensors. It also facilitates the transfer of sensor data to wherever the customer wants to receive that data, whether it be telematics devices, fleet management devices or even to the vehicle's on-board system for real-time monitoring and analysis.
The entire system costs $50 per vehicle per month, Lee says. He also said BANF's technology could save fleet owners up to $4,500 per truck per year in fuel consumption and tire maintenance.
BANF is currently collaborating with Volvo Group, Hyundai Motor Group and DHL on several projects. Lee says BANF's technology is currently in 123 vehicles, including four passenger vehicles, and the rest in Class 8 trucks operating in Sweden, the US, India, Korea and China.
The executive said BANF is working with major tire manufacturers in the US to commercialize the startup's technology through a profit-sharing agreement by the end of 2026.
BANF raised $5 million pre-Series A last year and is close to closing a $12 million Series A round, according to Lee. BANF aims to list on the Korean stock exchange at the end of 2027 and then try its hand at an IPO on the US Nasdaq. But Lee said BANF is open to other exit opportunities.
“We have many exit options, and not just to the tire companies,” Lee said. “We could be very beneficial for commercial vehicle manufacturers in gaining market share. And also fleet management companies, telematics device companies and even insurance companies.”
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