Netlinkz Limited (ASX:NET) Executive Chairman, James Tsiolis, discusses the company's software to enable organisations to quickly connect sites, devices and staff over the internet through a unique network solution.Katrina Bullock: Hello, I'm Katrina Bullock for the Finance News Network. Joining me today at FNN's Investor Event is executive chairman of Netlinkz
(ASX:NET), James Tsiolis. James, welcome to FNN.
James Tsiolis: Thank you for having me.
Katrina Bullock: Pleasure. If you could just start by giving us a bit of an introduction to the company for first-time investors.
James Tsiolis: So, we're a software development company, and we create invisible networks. Some of the customers that we've done that for thus far are China Telecom (NYSE:CHA), Wuxi Energy Company, so a number of very large corporations in China.
We've had a very successful pilot in creating these invisible networks. The whole idea that a hacker cannot identify the actual connection between the two devices because our proprietary technology creates an invisible connection.
Katrina Bullock: So James, people at home are becoming increasingly familiar with virtual private networks, or VPNs. Could you tell us how a virtual invisible network, VIN, differs from a VPN and what the advantages are?
James Tsiolis: An invisible network basically is software only. A VPN is actually a physical connection, and it's a private network.
What happens is,a actual VPN is always open, so in order for your device to communicate with another device at home, you have to have a VPN that has open ports. A hacker goes looking for a VPN, and the way they do it is through your actual mobile phone because it's not secure.
Our technology, the VIN, actually connects the device, being your mobile phone, back to your home invisibly, so there is no VPN for them to find. There's no switch, or router, or firewall. It's totally invisible.
Katrina Bullock: Now, looking at your virtual invisible network, or your VIN, could you tell us a little bit more starting with the development?
James Tsiolis: The challenge for everyone now is mobility, being your phone, gives you convenience, so you don't need to go to a bank anymore. You do your banking through your phone. You can do your shopping through your phone. So, what that's created is a number of devices that talk to one another all the time.
What we're doing is basically creating an invisible network of all these devices securely, and it actually is faster than a normal network.
Katrina Bullock: Terrific. We understand you've inked some exciting partnership deals. How are they progressing?
James Tsiolis: Our partnership with iSoftStone (NYSE:ISS) in China. iSoftStone is the largest software developer in China. We have established an IoT lab in Beijing. That already has 28 people in there, and their pure focus is to create invisible networks for Chinese customers.
What do those customers look like? It could be a cloud service provider, it could be another China Telecom (NYSE:CHA), so it could be China Unicom (NYSE:CHU), it could be China Mobile. But the whole idea of that development of the IoT lab in Beijing is for us to introduce our product to the Fortune 500 companies of China.
Katrina Bullock: So, a product like this doesn't have the geographical limits of other products. I'd love to know what do you see as your key markets with that in mind, and how do they fit into your group strategy.
James Tsiolis: Our key markets effectively are any country that has a network, so we are a ubiquitous product that can apply to any market in the world. What we need is lots of mobile devices, which allows us to connect them invisibly and create an invisible network.
From that perspective, China is our first big opportunity. We've established the IoT lab because China is the largest user of mobile devices in the world. For example, China does about 7.1 trillion yuan in payments a year. That compares to probably around a trillion that Americans do, so that gives you an idea of the size of the market. So, our view is we spend our time in China working on defining our product, refining our product and then taking it to the rest of the world.
Part of that trick is that every region, every country needs its own secure development code, or source code as it's called in the industry, in order to avoid back doors or trap doors, which allow people to access data. That's our big challenge in creating those boundaries between the various countries.
Katrina Bullock: ThanksJames. Now, turning to the financials, can you tell us a little bit about your funding and how your share price has performed over the last 12 month?
James Tsiolis: Our funding, we've got GEM out of the United States, a New York or Wall Street firm. They've made available $29 million to us in order to ensure that we can go to market. That's had a very positive impact on the price. Because of the GEM facility, we are fully funded and poised for significant further growth.
Katrina Bullock: Wonderful. Finally, James, before I let you go, why should investors consider investing in the company?
James Tsiolis: Netlinkz
(ASX:NET) has a wonderful opportunity globally. It has unique technology, which is a very strong word, but it has a technology that is infrastructure software. We build invisible networks globally. We can do that in a country, we can do that in a region, we can do that in a small city, so the technology is secure. It's invisible, it's fast, and it allows us to connect many, many devices. The more mobile devices there are in the world, the greater the opportunity for us.
Katrina Bullock: James Tsiolis, thanks for the update.
James Tsiolis: Thank you.
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