Sunda Technology Global

What Sunda Technology Global does

Sunda Technology Global Co., Ltd. is a Kyoto, Japan-headquartered hardware-technology company that designs, manufactures, and operates prepaid water metering systems for hand-pump boreholes and public water taps in Sub-Saharan Africa, with Uganda as its primary operational market. Founded in 2020 by CEO Aya Tsuboi — a former JICA overseas cooperation volunteer — the company sells and installs IoT-enabled smart meters that integrate with mobile money payments, solar power, and 2G connectivity to enable a "pay-as-you-fetch" water fee collection model. The core product line, branded SUNDA, comprises SUNDA for Hand Pump, SUNDA for Public Tap, and the SUNDA Online Dashboard for remote monitoring.

The company's business model rests on three revenue streams: hardware unit sales and installation fees, transaction-based fees from water payments processed through the mobile-money-enabled system, and ongoing field maintenance and spare parts services. Distribution relies on direct field installation by SUNDA's Ugandan subsidiary (Sunda Technologies Uganda Ltd.), channel partnerships with Rotary Clubs and NGOs, and a government-level memorandum of understanding with the Uganda Ministry of Water and Environment. End users include private water vendors, village hand-pump caretakers, district water offices, and rural community members who top up water credits via mobile money and authenticate with SUNDA ID tags.

SUNDA's recent scale-up signals include approximately 300 installed units in Uganda as of mid-2024, a granted Ugandan patent (UG/P/2025/00007, March 2026) for a sediment-tolerant hand-pump water meter co-developed with Kyoto Koshin Electric, a seed round in October 2023 and a subsequent financing round ($680,434, April 2025), and selection into accelerators including CEWAS Safe Water Accelerator Uganda and the Google for Startups / JICA Global Sustainability Accelerator. The company has been recognized by Forbes JAPAN (NEXT IMPACT STARTUP 30 and NEXT100), WIRED Japan (Regenerative Company Award), EY Entrepreneur Of The Year Japan Kansai (Grand Prize and Audience Award, 2024), and the JICA Overseas Cooperation Volunteer Returnee Social Contribution Award (Grand Prize, 2026), and operates with a disclosed team of Ugandan engineers and Japanese operations staff.

Name

Sunda Technology Global

Legal name

Sunda Technology Global Co., Ltd.

Website

https://sundaglobal.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2020

Operating status

Operating

Short description

Sunda Technology Global designs and operates IoT-enabled prepaid water metering systems for hand-pump boreholes and public taps in Uganda and Sub-Saharan Africa, enabling mobile-money-based pay-as-you-fetch fee collection to support sustainable community water infrastructure maintenance.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Smart Water Metering Hardware

NAICS

Totalizing Fluid Meter and Counting Device Manufacturing (334514)

SIC

Totalizing Fluid Meters & Counting Devices (3824)

akta.pro primary industry

Metering Hardware & Field Services (AMI/AMR meters, endpoints, installation, maintenance) (EUANAIAA)

akta.pro secondary industries

Customer Billing & Revenue Management (rate configuration, billing, adjustments, revenue assurance) (EUANAIAC), Digital Self-Service & Customer Portals (web/mobile, e-bill, notifications, consumption dashboards) (EUANAIAI), Utility & Municipal Billing Platforms (FSAMAJAG)

Keywords

• Prepaid water meters
• Smart water metering
• Hand pump technology
• WASH solutions
• Pay-as-you-fetch water

Headquarters

HQ city

Kyoto

HQ country

Japan

HQ region

Asia

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Hardware or Manufacturing

Cost components

Technology or R&D, Supply Chain, Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. SUNDA Hardware Sales and Installation: Sale and installation of SUNDA hardware units (smart meters, valves, control boards, solar panels) to water facility operators, villages, NGOs, and government bodies in Uganda and across Sub-Saharan Africa.
2. Water Fee Collection Service (Transaction-based): SUNDA enables pay-as-you-fetch water fee collection via mobile money. The system collects payments from water users and remits to facility operators, with the company earning through the transaction infrastructure and service fees.
3. Field Maintenance and Support Services: Sustainable O&M (Operation & Maintenance) services including regular maintenance, spare parts supply, and operational support for community-managed water facilities.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion3 records

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

Sunda Technology Global designs, manufactures, and deploys IoT-enabled prepaid water fee collection systems (the SUNDA System) for hand pump boreholes and public water taps in Sub-Saharan Africa. The offering combines patented smart meter hardware (valve, water meter, solar panel, control board, LED indicators) with mobile money payment integration and a cloud-based Online Dashboard, enabling automated pay-as-you-fetch water fee collection, transparent revenue tracking, and remote facility monitoring.

Product overview

SUNDA is a prepaid pay-as-you-fetch water metering solution consisting of two core products: SUNDA for Hand Pump and SUNDA for Public Tap. Both products use smart meters with valve control, solar panels, LED indicators, and communication boards to enable mobile money-based water fee collection. The products are managed through the SUNDA Online Dashboard for real-time monitoring. SUNDA Point appears to be a loyalty component of the ecosystem. The system was developed by local Ugandan engineers and manufactured in collaboration with Japanese technical companies to ensure durability for African field conditions.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• SUNDA for Hand Pump Prepaid water metering system designed for hand pump boreholes commonly installed across Africa. Includes a smart meter, valve, solar panel, communication board, and LED indicators that enable pay-as-you-fetch water fee collection via mobile money. Built for African field conditions including iron-sand contamination and inconsistent pressure.
• SUNDA for Public Tap Prepaid water metering solution that replaces conventional public water taps. Enables community-managed piped water systems to collect usage fees automatically through mobile money integration for community-managed water facilities.
• SUNDA Online Dashboard Real-time monitoring platform that displays water facility operational status and usage data, enabling quick fault detection and supporting effective field maintenance operations for SUNDA installations.

Quantifiable outcome

• 400 million people in Sub-Saharan Africa lack safe water access, with over 10,000 of Uganda's 60,000+ hand pumps non-functional — SUNDA addresses the fee collection failure that causes infrastructure breakdown
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers3 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature4 records

Partnerships

Eleven partnerships are on record, tiered core, key, flagship and minor.

• 共進電機株式会社 (Kyoto Koshin Electric Co., Ltd.)coreTechnology or Integration · 4 March 2026Kyoto-based electrical engineering company that co-developed the patented hand pump water meter technology (Patent UG/P/2025/00007) with co-founder Samson Kasozi. Contributed technical expertise to solve the challenge of accurate water measurement in low-pressure, sediment-rich African borehole conditions.
• 京都試作ネット (Kyoto Prototype Net)coreImplementation/ SI/ Consulting PartnerKyoto-based consortium of veteran technical engineers collaborating with SUNDA's Ugandan engineers to ensure product quality and mass production readiness. Supports product design, prototyping, and manufacturing process improvement for SUNDA hardware including valves, water meters, enclosures, and circuit boards.
• Rotary Club (Osaka Formsen, Uganda clubs, Singapore club)keyChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorMulti-country Rotary Club partnership for bulk SUNDA unit installations. A project installing 22 units was launched in April 2024 with handover ceremony held August 2024. Rotarians from Osaka Formsen (Japan), two Uganda clubs, and a Singapore club participated.
• ウガンダ国 水環境省 (Ministry of Water and Environment, Uganda)flagshipStrategic or Co-development PartnerSigned Memorandum of Understanding (October 2021) with the Uganda Ministry of Water and Environment to expand SUNDA installations across Uganda. This is the company's most significant government partnership, positioning SUNDA as part of national water infrastructure strategy.
• JICA (Japan International Cooperation Agency)keyStrategic or Co-development PartnerJICA supports SUNDA through overseas cooperation volunteer program (which founded the company), accelerator programs, and published implementation reports. CEO Aya Tsuboi served as a JICA volunteer in Uganda in 2018, which inspired the creation of SUNDA.
• CEWAS (世界初のインパクト重視型WASH企業支援団体)keyGTM or Marketing PartnerSelected for CEWAS Safe Water Accelerator Uganda program in June 2025. CEWAS is the world's first impact-oriented WASH (water, sanitation, and hygiene) entrepreneurship support organization, providing business development support for water enterprises.
• Google for Startups / Creww (Global Sustainability Accelerator)keyGTM or Marketing PartnerSelected for the Global Sustainability Accelerator powered by Creww and Google for Startups, with support from JICA. This program provides acceleration services, mentorship, and visibility for sustainability-focused startups.
• 株式会社Scenery (Scenery Inc.) / ピース君minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnership with Scenery Inc. operating the 'Peace-kun' (ピース君) character brand for well regeneration projects in Uganda. A joint project is planned for November 2026.
• 株式会社SAKURUG / 遠藤 様minorGTM or Marketing PartnerCorporate supporter of the My/Our Well Project. CEO of SAKURUG (远藤) visited Uganda office in June 2025 and supports the project as an individual donor and ambassador.
• 日本青年会議所 SMILE by WATERプロジェクト (Junior Chamber International Japan)minorGTM or Marketing PartnerCollaboration started in March 2022 with JCI Japan's SMILE by WATER project, supporting water infrastructure improvement activities.
• 慶應SFC (Keio University SFC) / 永戸鉄也minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCollaboration with Keio University SFC and Professor Todoroki for the 'No-Service' mineral water project, launched June 2025.

Scale indicators7 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• M-KOPA: M-KOPA is a Kenya-based PAYG (pay-as-you-go) provider of solar home systems and other essential services across East Africa, including Uganda. Like SUNDA, it uses mobile-money integration, IoT-enabled hardware, and remote monitoring to monetize under-served utility access in low-income markets.
• Sun King (Greenlight Planet): Greenlight Planet (Sun King) sells PAYG solar home systems across Sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia using mobile-money payments and remote-locking hardware. It shares SUNDA's combination of off-grid hardware, mobile-money collection, and rural East African distribution model.
• BBOXX: BBOXX is a UK-headquartered PAYG solar and utilities provider operating across Africa with smart hardware, mobile-money billing, and remote monitoring. Its business model of financing under-served utility access via IoT-enabled hardware is directly analogous to SUNDA's water-fee model.
• Azuri Technologies: Azuri provides PAYG solar home systems in East Africa, including Uganda, using mobile-money top-ups and smart hardware. Like SUNDA, it serves rural off-grid households with technology designed for African field conditions and recurring micro-payment revenue.

Emerging players

• PayGo Energy: PayGo Energy provides PAYG clean cooking fuel (LPG) in Kenya using smart metering and mobile-money integration. While focused on cooking rather than water, it shares SUNDA's PAYG-meters-for-essential-utilities model in the East African market.
• Hello Tractor: Hello Tractor is a PAYG tractor-sharing platform operating across Africa with IoT hardware and mobile payments. While serving agriculture rather than water, it shares SUNDA's PAYG model, IoT hardware + mobile-money stack, and African emerging-market footprint.

Broad incumbents

• Itron: Itron is a global incumbent in smart water, electricity, and gas metering with AMI/AMR solutions for utilities. It represents the broad-incumbent threat: large-scale smart metering capability that could enter emerging markets, though its technology is not designed for hand-pump or off-grid African conditions.
• Xylem: Xylem is a global water technology leader (including Sensus smart metering) serving utilities worldwide. As a broad incumbent, it has the scale and R&D resources to enter emerging-market water metering if the segment matures — a long-term competitive threat to SUNDA's niche.

Regional players

• Davis & Shirtliff: Davis & Shirtliff is a leading East African water and energy equipment distributor and solutions provider headquartered in Kenya with operations across the region, including Uganda. It overlaps with SUNDA in East African water infrastructure distribution and could emerge as a channel partner or competitor.

Others

• WaterAid: WaterAid is a major international NGO focused on water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) in Sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia. As a non-commercial ecosystem player, it is not a direct competitor but is highly comparable in mission and operates as a potential partner, funder, or distribution channel for SUNDA's solutions.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses2 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/SundaJapan
• Instagraminstagram.com/sunda_water

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles9 records

Subsidiaries1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds1 record

Investors4 records

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Sunda Technology Global