French startup Sigfox raised a Series B round of $20.6 million (€15 million) from IDInvest and BPIFrance. Existing investors (Elaia Partners, Partech Ventures, Ixo and Intel Capital) also participated. As a reminder, Sigfox wants to create an alternative cellular network specifically dedicated to connected objects.
Compared to traditional cellular networks, this network can cover a larger area and is very energy-efficient. Previously, the startup had raised $2.8 million (€2 million) and $13.7 million (€10 million).
The Internet is no longer just about email, ecommerce or Twitter. “We are at an inflection point,” says Joe Salvo, manager of Complex Systems Engineering Laboratory at GE Global Research. “The next wave of productivity will connect brilliant machines and people.”
But before that happens, they must find a common language. “It’s still like the Tower of Babel,” Salvo says. “We need to bring them together in powerful new networks.”
Using early-stage IoT financing data, we can provide an early view into where the IoT market is going in the next 18-36 months. Here are the top sub-industries, investors and areas of focus of tomorrow's disruptive IoT companies.
Investors poured over $1B into Internet of Things companies in 2013, and while last year saw a fair share of notable, larger financings to IoT companies, early-stage companies dominated deal activity. Since 2012, 64% of deals in the IoT market have occurred at the seed or Series A stages.
2013 saw the Internet of Things capture the imagination – and financing dollars – of investors to the tune of $1.1B across 153 deals. And in a sign of growing investor interest across the IoT ecosystem, financing transactions to the IoT market grew in each successive quarter of 2013 to hit an eight-quarter high in Q4 2013.
In our in-depth report on the Internet of Things (IoT), we analyze the state of the IoT market. Using our proprietary financial intelligence, we. examine the key drivers, challenges and opportunities for companies in the IoT space The report was developed as part of SVB Analytics strategic advisory service, which provides investors and entrepreneurs with an assessment of a company's value in support of acquisitions, mergers, investments, and other strategic financing activities.
Many are aware of the well-publicized Google Glass that pairs the Internet with a set of shades. What takes some by surprise, however, is how many other products have followed suit.
Corporate venture investors lead the way in terms of Internet of Things deal activity with Intel Capital, Qualcomm Ventures and Cisco Investments taking 3 of the top 4 spots. The lone pure-play VC in the top IoT investors is True Ventures.
Google’s $3.2 billion acquisition of smart thermostat startup Nest Labs should increase the intensity of interest in the home automation space and the broader Internet of Things market.
The company builds technology for the manufacturing industry. The goal of this acquisition is to place PTC as a “major player” in industries that deal with the Internet of things, or everyday household items that are connected to the Web.
ThingWorx’s platform makes it easier for businesses to develop applications of the “connected world.” It has tools that make it easier to design and build apps and process and make sense of all the data that is generated.
Providing services ranging from sensor-driven thermostats to bracelets that can track how you sleep or eat, hundreds of venture-backed companies are now part of a category known as the Internet of Things (IoT). The Internet of Things describes technologies that connect to the Internet and to each other through sensors, wireless networks as well as other “machine to machine” methods. Given the Internet of Things theme covers a broad array of technologies and use cases, it is actually comprised of five key sub-categories as detailed below (with illustrative companies provided for each)
