Asteria Forms Strategic Alliance with Tapway, a Leading AI Provider in SEA Co-Developing New Edge AI/IoT Solution Using Fully No-Code Technology - Expanding For Fast Growing SEA and Japanʼs Enterprise AI Landscape

Asteria Corporation (Head Office: Tokyo, Japan; CEO HIRANO (Pina) Yoichiro; Tokyo Stock Exchange listed, Security Code: 3853) and Tapway (Head Office: Selangor, Malaysia; CEO: Chee How Lim) have announced the formation of an Edge AI and IoT business alliance to leverage product development and marketing synergies. This co-development and cross-marketing alliance will allow Asteria to enter the SEA market, starting with Malaysia, and provide Tapway with access to the Japanese market.

Company and Product Overview

Tapway is Southeast Asia’s leading Vision AI technology company. Tapway’s leading product SamurAI provides vehicle, people and object recognition technology based on ready-to-use AI models, as well as a no-code AI platform that allows companies to build, train, deploy and monitor computer vision applications and AI models according to their needs without any coding or software development skills. 

Tapway’s software is deployed on Malaysia’s PLUS toll expressway, where it detects transaction fraud and facilitates accurate payment matching, thereby easing traffic congestion, addressing labor shortages, increasing efficiency, and reducing costs. Beyond transportation, Tapway’s solutions are revolutionizing retail, manufacturing, agriculture, and smart city development, with over 350 companies worldwide adopting the technology. Additionally, Tapway also holds patents pending for leveraging Vision AI to automate the Durian grading process. 

Asteria released ASTERIA Warp in 2002, a fully no-code data connectivity software that supports business automation and is employed by over 10,000 companies. Asteria focuses on making AI more effective in enterprises by connecting its power to various business processes and data sources including big data, user generated data and IoT. Asteria’s Gravio is an AI and IoT connectivity platform that supports distributed node computing. Due to its ability to connect and manage distributed, multi-site systems and data, Gravio is highly regarded as a no-code software that enables the collection and processing of data, including sensor information and service connectivity, at the edge as well as in the cloud. Gravio has been adopted as a control and connectivity system by organizations in a wide range of industries.

Background 

With the acceleration of business digitalization and digital transformation, the global AI market is expected to continue growing rapidly and reach USD 18.47 trillion by 2030*. The use of camera and sensor-based data collection for a wide variety of purposes has seen marked advancements, and the Japanese market for AI (including image recognition) is projected to reach JPY 120 billion by 2025** due to the rapidly growing need to create inference models for easier use of AI cameras. 

One of the biggest hurdles to the growth, however, seems to be the need for advanced skills to create inference models tailored to a company’s needs and link data AI-collected to various (including internal) systems.

Asteria and Tapway aim to address this issue by bundling Tapway’s easy-to-use no-code inference model creation technology with Asteria’s no-code technology, which enables one-stop data collection, integration, centralized management and utilization. 

In doing so, this will enable businesses to unlock the potential of AI, data collection, integration and IoT using their existing IT staff without programming knowledge to create customized solutions to improve integration, automation and innovation.

Future Plans 

Asteria and Tapway will start offering the “AIoT Suite” product bundle in English and Japanese from July 2024 in Southeast Asia, and from November 2024 in Japan. The “AIoT Suite” allows users to create inference models tailored to their needs, deploy and scale them in order to collect, integrate, manage and actuate upon the data without code. 

Asteria  Technology  Pte.  Ltd.  (Singapore  subsidiary)  and  Tapway  will  leverage  each  other’s marketing  capabilities,  while  Asteria’s  domestic  Development  Division  and  Tapway  will collaborate  on  product  development,  targeting  over  100  million  yen  in  sales  over  two  years. Through  cross-marketing,  Tapway  and  Asteria  will  enter  the  AI  markets  in  Japan  and Malaysia, respectively. 

By bundling Tapway and Asteria’s capabilities, knowledge and client bases, new opportunities for System Integrators and end customers are created. The “AIoT Suite” is primarily geared at System  Integrators  or  technology  departments  of  large  and  medium  enterprises  who  want  to explore leveraging the potential of new technologies without having to invest heavily in software development skills.

*: 2023 White Paper on Information and Communications (Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications), Part 2, Section 9.
https://www.soumu.go.jp/johotsusintokei/whitepaper/ja/r05/html/nd249100.html (available in Japanese only)

**: 2022 White Paper on Information and Communications (Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications), Part 2, Section 6.
https://www.soumu.go.jp/johotsusintokei/whitepaper/ja/r04/html/nd236910.html (available in Japanese only)

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About Asteria Corporation ( https://en.asteria.com/ )

Asteria is a software development company that provides products and services that “connect” systems, people, things and intentions based on the concept of “Connecting the World with Software”. Its flagship product, ASTERIA Warp, is middleware which integrates data from different systems and cloud services without coding. As of August 1, 2023, it has been adopted by over 10,000 companies. Another product, Handbook X, is a business negotiation support app which enables consolidated management of data from various sources, such as documents, videos, and websites, through the cloud. Mobile app building tool Platio allows users to easily create and distribute mobile apps befitting specific in-house tasks. Node integration platform Gravio enables integrated management of data collected from multiple sources without coding. By offering these products, Asteria promotes digital transformation (DX) and helps organizations improve their business process efficiency. Asteria is also engaged in raising awareness of new technologies and their values, and fosters innovation through participation in the launch of Blockchain Collaborative Consortium and No Code Promotion Association.

About Tapway Sdn Bhd（https://gotapway.com/） 

Tapway  is  a  pioneering  technology  company  dedicated  to  revolutionizing  the  way  businesses operate  through  innovative  AI  solutions.  Tapway  converts  surveillance  footage  into  valuable data, enabling informed decisions, streamlined operations, and improved security. With a focus on automation and efficiency, Tapway offers cutting-edge products designed to simplify complex tasks and enhance operational workflows. Tapway’s flagship product, SamurAI, consists of two powerful  tools;  SamurAI  Copilot  and  SamurAI  Central.  SamurAI  Copilot  is  the  ultimate companion  for  automating  compliance  and  audits.  Utilizing  AI-driven  checklists,  SamurAI Copilot streamlines tasks, ensures thorough compliance, and prompts alerts efficiently, making the  process  seamless  and  stress-free.  SamurAI  Central  is  an  end-to-end  no-code  AI  platform that  empowers  your  teams  to  build,  train,  deploy,  and  monitor  computer  vision  applications. SamurAI Central enables quick and easy automation of visual inspection processes, ensuring precision  and  reliability.  Tapway  is  committed  to  leveraging  the  power of  AI  to  transform business operations, drive productivity, and deliver exceptional results. 

About Gravio ( https://www.gravio.com/en ) 

Gravio collects field data from nodes installed in various locations and integrates them into the Gravio  Cloud  service,  a  centralized  data  management  system.  The  collected  data  can  be seamlessly linked to other services for effective utilization, and its user-friendly AI allows for various settings to be easily configured without coding. Complete with sensors, gateways and other necessary hardware, as well as software, data storage and graph creation cloud service, Gravio provides a simple and easy, all-in-one on-site DX solution.