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HisWay Labs secures Octoco investment for solar-powered rail monitoring
Cape Town's HisWay Labs, maker of the TrackView rail-integrity system, has secured a strategic investment from Octoco Group ahead of international expansion.
By Propel Africa · 2026-09-23
HisWay Labs has secured a strategic investment from Octoco Group, a technology investment and product development firm, Disrupt Africa reported on 23 September. The amount was not disclosed. The funding is intended to prepare the company for international expansion.
Monitoring rails without copper
Founded in 2018 and based in Cape Town, HisWay Labs builds TrackView, a solar-powered system that monitors rail integrity and train positions around the clock. It uses no copper cabling or batteries, which reduces the risk of theft, and is built to withstand heat, dust, flooding and tampering.
The system has certification and product type approval from the Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa (PRASA), and is being deployed commercially in partnership with Siemens Mobility.
Going abroad
HisWay Labs is running active field trials in the United States and pursuing distribution in Europe through InnoTrans, the rail industry trade fair in Germany.
"South Africa has a long tradition of solving hard engineering problems out of necessity," said Heinrich de Lange, managing director of Octoco Group.
At a glance
- Company: HisWay Labs
- Raised: Undisclosed
- Type: Strategic investment
- Investor: Octoco Group
- Product: TrackView solar-powered rail monitoring
- Approvals: PRASA certification; deployed with Siemens Mobility
- Founded: 2018, Cape Town