enable developers to provide real-time connectivity and control for apps and IoT devices. The company claims it has more than 2,000 customers (McDonald’s, Coca-Cola, a bunch of niche IoT players, etc.) and partners, and averages more than 1.8 trillion real-time transactions over its network, which is supported by more than a dozen data centers. Some think the company could branch out into offering its services across private networks as well.
Seebo
Founded: 2012
Headquarters: Tel Aviv/San Francisco
Funding: $14 million, including an $8.5M Series A round in February led by Carmel Ventures.
Focus: Led by brothers Lior and Liran Akavia, Seebo offers software and connections to help organizations bring smart, IoT-enabled products to market in areas ranging from toys to health to travel to fashion. Offerings include everything from product development tools to analytics tools to over-the-air updating capabilities. And you know your data will be safe working with Seebo, which has Mika the dog around as Chief Security Officer.
Seebo Seebo's security dog
thethings.iO
Founded: 2013
Headquarters: Barcelona
Funding: $270K in funding last July via angel investors.
Focus: This company’s motto is "You build the cool Things. We connect them to the Internet". Like some others in this field of taking a load off of IoT device and apps developers and users, thethings.iO says it will handle interoperability, analytics, storage and other back-end support via its cloud service. As VentureBeat wrote last year, the startup essentially wants to be the Amazon Web Services for the Internet of Things, providing a more focused approach to IoT support than AWS can. The company is led by Marc Pous, an IoT veteran of at least a decade whose interests include the Oktoberfest of Things…
Veniam
Founded: 2012
Headquarters: Mountain View
Funding: Scored $22M in Series B funding in February, led Verizon Ventures and including Cisco Investments, bringing total funding to $27 million.
Focus: The Internet of Moving Things, as in, fleets of vehicles as well as at airports, seaports and more. Managed services, including mobile WiFi hotspots and mesh networks, from Veniam offer expanded wireless coverage in communities, data analysis that can be used for smart city apps and planning, and more. Not surprisingly perhaps, a couple of the company’s founders were behind Zipcar.
WigWag
Founded: 2014
Headquarters: Austin
Funding: $3.125M in seed funding, led by CSC Venture Capital
Focus: Open-source platform aimed at getting IoT devices and IP networks to work together to support smart homes and businesses. The WigWag Relay is designed to obey user-initiated rules so that WigWag gear, such as smart lighting, can be automated. Customers can also employ a mobile app for control on the go. WigWag is working to make its products work with a wide array of offerings from others, even if they rely on other protocols such as Zigbee and Bluetooth. The company’s leaders come from videoconferencing company Lifesize Communications, a Logitech buyout.