Cohere, Sonim, Highway 9, Artemis and others look for MWC boost

A range of startups and smaller companies in the wireless industry are working to make a splash ahead of the upcoming MWC Barcelona trade show next week. Their goal: To score some attention amid all the hubbub.

"I will be at #MWC24 in Barcelona next week – do ping me to connect," wrote Highway 9 Founder and CEO Allwyn Sequeira on social media. The company on Thursday broke cover with $25 million in funding and a goal to sell its "mobile cloud" to enterprise customers.

Others are hoping for a similar bounce. 

For example, Cohere Technologies announced Wednesday it completed another test of its Universal Spectrum Multiplier (USM) software with Vodafone in Ciudad Real, south of Madrid, Spain. "We are now focused on integrating the USM with partners to make these benefits available to operators globally," said CEO Ray Dolan in a release. Cohere is set to have a booth in Hall 3 at MWC.

Broadly, MWC organizer GSMA has worked to foster a venue for smaller startups through a sister event called 4FYN, which is located in the same building as the main MWC event. "For the companies that participate on the show floor and in pitch-offs, it's a chance to get an audience with MWC's large and engaged audience," wrote TechCrunch, a publication that covers the startup industry, in announcing its intention to attend the show.

Other small companies making noise in recent days: Artemis, Somin and Nothing. 

Artemis offered The Mobile Network details of its three month field trial in Times Square, New York, with deployment vendor Boldyn Networks. Artemis CEO and Founder Steve Perlman told the publication that Boldyn is now set to roll out Artemis' pCell technology globally. 

Separately, London-based mobile phone company Nothing was rumored to be launching its new phone, the Nothing Phone 2A, at MWC. But the company confirmed to Cnet that the launch will happen on March 5, immediately after the show.

Finally, rugged smartphone maker Sonim said it hopes to fill the space left by its rival Bullitt, which has apparently ceased operations. "Sonim presents immediate solution to fill Bullitt void at MWC Barcelona with superior solutions, by appointment only," reads the subhead in the company's release.

Such companies face an uphill battle in the fight for attention. For example, in recent days tech giant Dell announced its latest telecom product offerings, while infrastructure vendor Nokia announced new partnerships with both Intel and Nvidia.