Pylon

Pylon (Pylon UMP) is a utility management platform that deploys and operates smart metering infrastructure for electricity and water distribution companies. Founded in 2017 in Cairo by Ahmed Ashour and Omar Radi, the company built a subscription model it calls 'Smart Metering as a Service' (SMaaS): instead of utilities paying large upfront capital costs for smart meters, they pay a recurring per-meter fee that covers deployment, operation, and maintenance. The platform is aimed at reducing non-revenue losses from leakages, theft, and uncollected bills for utilities and large real-estate developments. Pylon has deployed smart water and electricity metering across projects such as Egypt's Mostakbal City, and reports powering over one million metering points across more than a dozen active projects. The company went through Y Combinator (2021 batch) and operates primarily in Egypt with stated ambitions to expand across other emerging markets.