# Pylon

> Pylon is a Cairo-based smart infrastructure platform that sells electricity and water utilities a subscription-based Smart Metering as a Service (SMaaS). Its software layers on top of any meter - old or new - to cut losses, improve revenue collection and give operators real-time visibility, all at zero upfront cost. Founded in 2017 and backed by Y Combinator (S21), Pylon runs across more than a million metering endpoints in Egypt and the Philippines.

- **Founded:** 2017
- **Headquarters:** Cairo, Egypt
- **Founders:** Ahmed Ashour (Co-founder & CEO), Omar Radi (Co-founder)
- **Team size:** ~66 employees
- **Products:** Smart Metering as a Service (SMaaS), Utility analytics & AI insights, Customer portal & automated billing
- **Notable:** Raised a $19M seed round in 2022, one of the larger seed rounds for an Egyptian startup at the time., Scaled to 1M+ metering endpoints across Egypt and the Philippines., Software reads 26+ different meter models, avoiding costly rip-and-replace for utilities.

## Products & services

- **Smart Metering as a Service (SMaaS)** — A subscription-based, end-to-end platform that turns a utility's existing meters into a source of real-time data. Meter-agnostic software integrates with 26+ meter models, delivering consumption monitoring, loss detection and automated billing at zero upfront cost.
- **Utility analytics & AI insights** — Data and machine-learning layer that flags operational inefficiencies, water leaks and revenue loss, and provides real-time recommendations to operators.
- **Customer portal & automated billing** — Payment integration and a customer-facing portal that improves collection rates and engagement for utilities.

## Achievements

- Raised a $19M seed round in 2022, one of the larger seed rounds for an Egyptian startup at the time.
- Scaled to 1M+ metering endpoints across Egypt and the Philippines.
- Software reads 26+ different meter models, avoiding costly rip-and-replace for utilities.
- Backed by Y Combinator (S21).
- Bootstrapped from ~$50K of founder capital to multi-million revenue before institutional funding.

## Latest updates

- **2023-02** — Featured by Disrupt Africa and Y Combinator for its smart-metering impact across emerging markets.
- **2022-04** — Closed a $19M seed round led by Endure Capital to expand across Africa, Latin America and Southeast Asia.

## Links

- Website: https://pylonump.com
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/pylonump
- Twitter/X: https://twitter.com/pylonump

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Profile page: https://yespress.io/pylon-yc-s21
Published by YesPress — https://yespress.io
Last updated: 2026-07-30