German Engineering.Built for South Africa.
The largest IoT market in Sub-Saharan Africa has hardware and networks - but no one to build the platform. Milesight hardware locally available, LoRaWAN on Comsol, platform by merkaio. We close the gap.
- Load Shedding Resilient
- Milesight Hardware Locally Available
- LoRaWAN on Comsol
Why South Africa. Why Now.
South Africa's IoT market is projected to reach $14.5 billion by 2030. The infrastructure is ready: Comsol operates the largest LoRaWAN network in Africa, Milesight hardware is available through local distributors like MiRO. What's missing is the platform layer - someone who connects sensors to dashboards, builds rule engines, and keeps everything running. That's us.
Load Shedding Resilient
LoRaWAN sensors run on batteries for years. Gateways survive blackouts with solar and battery backup. Your data keeps flowing when the grid doesn't.
LoRaWAN Infrastructure Ready
Comsol and Lesira-Teq operate South Africa's public LoRaWAN network. We integrate directly - or deploy private networks for your sites.
Hardware Available Locally
Milesight sensors and gateways are available through local distributors in South Africa. No long import delays, local support channels available.
Milesight Hardware. Available in South Africa.
Milesight sensors and gateways are available through local distributors in South Africa, including MiRO - an official Milesight distribution partner offering pre-sales support and training. You source the hardware locally. We build the platform behind it - ChirpStack, ThingsBoard, Grafana, custom dashboards. A complete IoT solution without vendor lock-in.
AM Series
Ambient Monitoring
Temperature, humidity, CO2, light - everything you need for indoor climate and environmental monitoring. Perfect for cold chain, smart buildings, and agricultural greenhouses.
Models:
AM104, AM307, AM319
merkaio Integration: Pre-configured decoders, Grafana alerting for threshold violations.
EM Series
Energy & Environment
Soil moisture, water level, energy metering, tilt sensors. The workhorses for agriculture, water management, and infrastructure monitoring.
Models:
EM300-TH, EM400-TLD, EM500-SWL, EM500-SMTC
merkaio Integration: ThingsBoard rule chains for automated irrigation and leak detection.
VS Series
Vision & Counting
People counting (ToF), occupancy detection, and fall detection. Privacy-first - no cameras, no faces, no POPIA concerns.
Models:
VS133, VS135, VS341, VS373
merkaio Integration: Real-time dashboards with occupancy heatmaps and historical analytics.
UG Series
Industrial Gateways
Outdoor gateways with 4G backhaul, GPS, and IP67 protection. Survive dust, rain, heat, and load shedding with battery backup.
Models:
UG56, UG65, UG67
merkaio Integration: ChirpStack gateway management, remote firmware updates, 24/7 monitoring.
UC Series
Controllers & Edge
Programmable controllers for local automation. Trigger relays, control valves, switch pumps - without cloud dependency.
Models:
UC100, UC300, UC502
merkaio Integration: ThingsBoard downlink integration, local rule execution, fail-safe operation.
The Integration Model
Buy hardware locally. We build the platform.
Source Milesight sensors and gateways from your local distributor. merkaio deploys ChirpStack, configures ThingsBoard, builds Grafana dashboards, writes payload decoders, and operates everything 24/7. No gaps in the value chain.
The Platform Layer. The Missing Piece.
South Africa has the hardware and the network. It needs the integration.
The Gap in the Value Chain
Customers buy Milesight sensors from local distributors. They connect to Comsol's LoRaWAN network. But then what? Raw data sitting in a network server isn't useful. Someone needs to decode payloads, build rule engines, create dashboards, set up alerting, and keep it all running. That someone is merkaio.
Hardware
Milesight (local distributors)
Network
Comsol / Lesira-Teq
Platform Integration
merkaio
Solutions for South African Industries.
Proven applications for the sectors that matter most:
Water Management
Water scarcity is South Africa's most urgent infrastructure challenge.
Smart water meters, tank level monitoring, leak detection, and pump control. Johannesburg Water has already deployed 4,300 LoRaWAN meters. Lesira-Teq runs thousands of smart meters in Pretoria. The technology is proven - we build the platform on top.
Milesight EM500-SWL, EM400-TLD & Grafana dashboards.
Smart Agriculture
Large farms, limited connectivity, scarce water resources.
Soil moisture monitoring across vast farmlands. One LoRaWAN gateway covers 10-15 km of open terrain. Milesight EM500-SMTC sensors report soil conditions every 15 minutes. Automated irrigation triggers via ThingsBoard rule chains. No SIM cards, no recurring costs per sensor.
Milesight EM500-SMTC, UG67 gateways & ThingsBoard.
Mining & Remote Sites
Environmental compliance and worker safety at remote locations.
Air quality monitoring, water discharge tracking, vibration sensing for equipment health. Similar to our ABCO Water project in Australia - central management of distributed remote sites with secure access for different stakeholders.
Environmental sensors, UG67 gateways & remote dashboards.
Cold Chain & Logistics
Pharmaceutical and food logistics require unbroken temperature chains.
Automated temperature logging from warehouse to last mile. EN12830-compliant hardware, real-time alerts via SMS and email. Audit trails for compliance - no more paper logs. GPS tracking for mobile cold chain assets.
Milesight EM300-TH, AM104 & automated alerting.
What We've Built. Worldwide.
We don't just talk about IoT platforms - we operate them. Here's proof.
What merkaio delivers for South African customers:
Full IoT platform architecture (ChirpStack + ThingsBoard + Grafana)
Hardware sourcing & pre-staging (Milesight, locally available)
Custom payload decoder development for all Milesight sensors
Dashboard & visualization design (Grafana + ThingsBoard)
Custom web apps & customer portals (merkaio dev)
24/7 managed operations, monitoring & SLA-backed support
IoT That Works During Load Shedding.
South Africa's energy crisis is a challenge for connected systems. LoRaWAN + edge computing is the answer.
While cellular towers go offline during stage 4-6 load shedding, LoRaWAN gateways consume minimal power and bridge outages with battery backup. Your sensors keep measuring, your data keeps flowing, your alerts keep firing.
Battery-Powered Sensors
Milesight sensors run 5-10 years on standard batteries. No grid connection needed. No downtime during blackouts.
Solar-Powered Gateways
UG67 gateways with solar panels and LiFePO4 batteries. Autonomous operation for 48+ hours without any external power.
merkaio edge pro
Our edge appliance runs ChirpStack, ThingsBoard, and Grafana locally. Full offline operation - data is stored and synced when connectivity returns.
Our Services for South Africa.
Platform Architecture
We design and deploy your complete IoT stack: ChirpStack for LoRaWAN management, ThingsBoard for device logic and rule chains, Grafana for visualization and alerting.
Hosted in German data centers, GDPR & POPIA compliant.
Hardware Sourcing & Pre-staging
Milesight hardware available through local distributors in SA. We pre-configure every sensor and gateway - your local team just mounts and powers on.
Decoders written, tested, and deployed - ready when hardware arrives.
Custom Development
Dashboards, customer portals, mobile apps, API integrations. From Grafana customization to white-label platforms for your own customers.
Built by merkaio dev - React, Node.js, ThingsBoard SDK.
Managed Operations
24/7 monitoring, automatic updates, backup, and incident response. We keep your IoT infrastructure running so your team can focus on the business.
SLA-backed with 99.9% availability target.
Coverage Across South Africa.
We support projects in all major economic regions:
Gauteng
Smart Water, Smart City, Smart Buildings
Johannesburg, Pretoria, Centurion
Western Cape
Agriculture, Cold Chain, Tourism
Cape Town, Stellenbosch, Paarl
Mpumalanga & Limpopo
Mining, Agriculture, Environmental
Nelspruit, Witbank, Polokwane
KwaZulu-Natal
Logistics, Port, Cold Chain
Durban, Pietermaritzburg, Richards Bay
We work with local integrators and partners for on-site installation.
Questions About South Africa Projects
Specific answers for the South African market.
Leading companies worldwide trust merkaio
“With Timo and Robin, you're not only on the safe side technically - you also get the best human support! Whether it's quick help in everyday life or complex IT solutions: the guys from merkaio think along with you, act quickly and speak a language you understand. The collaboration is uncomplicated, reliable and always on an equal footing. That makes IT fun - and above all: it works! Big thank you to the team!”
Sonja Aßer
Data Manager, ARGE, Germany
“I got to know Timo and Robin as dedicated and professional partners who make a lot of things possible for their clients that initially seem impossible. I felt very well advised. The services offered have thoroughly convinced me.”
Andrea Pawlowski
Communications Manager, Golem.de, Germany
“I recently worked with Timo and the merkaio team, and honestly, it turned out to be one of the best tech decisions I have made for my business. Right from the start, Timo took the time to walk me through every step in a simple and calm way. No matter how many questions I had, he never rushed me. The results speak for themselves. With merkaio, we reduced our monthly expenses from $1,300 down to $250. This was a huge win for us.”
Aleksandr Shuliko
CTO, EVA Real Estate, UAE
“merkaio manages our Proxmox cluster reliably and professionally. The team handles continuous monitoring and regular updates for us and responds very quickly to any issues or inquiries. They also configure new nodes, systems, and applications that we need to add to our cluster. With merkaio's proactive support, our cluster and the business-critical applications running on it remain stable, and high availability is consistently ensured. We value the professional collaboration and the noticeable relief it brings to our daily operations.”
Pascal Hakkers
CEO Aphy B.V., Netherlands
“Counting on the merkaio team was crucial, their expertise and solutions gave us the pace to deploy in production our services, even suggesting and performing improvements over our configuration and setup. We expect to keep counting on them for continuous maintenance of our services and implementation of new solutions.”
Gabriel Sanz Señor
CEO Odiseo Solutions, Spain
“From the initial consultation to the final implementation, everything was absolutely professional, efficient, and to my complete satisfaction. I particularly appreciate the clear communication, transparent pricing, and the comprehensive expertise that both bring to the table. They take care of the maintenance, which frees up my time enormously and allows me to focus on other important areas of my business - with the good feeling that our IT is in the best hands. I can recommend merkaio without reservation!”
Sebastian Maier
CEO Yonju GmbH
“We have had very good experiences with Mr. Wevelsiep and merkaio. The consultation was professional, clearly understandable, and at fair prices. The team not only implemented our requirements but also thought along and proactively. Instead of just processing individual tasks, they provided us with well-founded explanations that strengthened our own understanding. merkaio took a lot of pressure off us with their structured approach - that was exactly what we needed and is the reason why we keep coming back.”
Matthias Zimmermann
CEO Annota GmbH
“Robin and Timo provided excellent support! We received truly competent advice and will gladly return to their services in the future.”
Simon Deutsch
CEO WiseWhile UG
Let's start your IoT project. Digital and on-site.
We don't just deliver software - we deliver the complete solution. From selecting and installing sensors in your facility to secure cloud operations. Talk to engineers who can do both.
Your contact
Timo Wevelsiep
Lead IoT Solutions Architect