The 10 Hottest IoT Startups Of 2019

From Armis to Zededa, CRN looks at the 10 hottest startups of 2019 that are providing new ways to secure IoT devices and deploy applications at the edge, among other things.

IoT Security, Edge Computing And More

There is a lot at stake in the IoT market as companies increasingly seek to connect a variety of devices and assets to improve a variety of things, whether that's operational efficiency or quality of life.

Case in point: organizations worldwide are expected to spend $745 billion on IoT solutions and services this year, with that figure set to surpass $1 trillion in 2022, according to research firm IDC.

That means that while established vendors have an opportunity to provide the solutions and services needed to support IoT applications, there is plenty of room for startups to shake up the status quo and provide their own take, whether it's for analytics, security or virtualization.

What follows are the 10 hottest IoT startups of 2019, which range in category from IoT security and data intelligence to edge computing and peer-to-peer networking.

Armis

CEO: Yevgeny Dibrov

Armis is tackling the IoT security space with an agentless security platform that gives enterprises complete visibility and control over unmanaged connected devices in a variety of environments.

The Palo Alto, Calif.-based startup raised a $65 million Series C round in April that was led by venture capital heavyweight Sequoia Capital. Out of its roughly 100 customers, more than 25 are Fortune 100 companies, and they include Sysco Foods, Allergan and Samsung's U.S. research and development organization. The company also has a growing channel program, with dozens of partners.

Beyond fundraising, the startup, whose platform monitors devices for anomalous and malicious behavior, has spent this year filling out its leadership team, with the hiring of former FireEye executive Jeff Williams and former Sysco chief information security officer Curt Simpson.

Circonus

CEO: Bob Moul

Circonus is making a big play to analyze and collect the exponentially growing amount of data coming from IoT devices, sensors and IT systems with its machine data intelligence platform.

The Philadelphia-based startup launched its Circonus Platform in October, saying that the platform can collect, monitor, analyze and store machine data in real time for use cases such as operational analytics and infrastructure monitoring across a variety of verticals.

Bob Moul, who led Boomi through the Platform-as-a-Service vendor's sale to Dell in 2010, joined Circonus as the startup's new CEO in April.

CoreKinect

CEO: Assar Badri

CoreKinect aims to make IoT solutions more scalable with custom-built IoT sensors that can be used for a variety of use cases, spanning from smart city applications to fleet management.

The Tempe, Ariz.-based has spent this year building partnerships, including a U.S. distribution deal with Ingram Micro and a co-development partnership with The Kudelski Group.

For the Kudelski Group partnership, the two companies have developed a secure asset tracking solution that is small enough to fit inside a pill bottle, combining The Kudelski Group's Discrete Secure Element security system-on-chip and CoreKinect's miniature tracking solution.

Edgeworx

CEO: Kilton Hopkins

Edgeworx is bringing Kubernetes to the IoT edge with its ioFog Engine, enabling companies to run any software on any endpoint using open-source software.

The Santa Clara, Calif.-based startup announced in June that its Eclipse ioFog software can make any Kubernetes distribution "edge-aware." Available from the Eclipse Foundation, the software lets companies deploy microservices and applications from the cloud in addition to creating an Edge Compute Network for the purpose of sharing encrypted data.

The company came out of stealth mode late last year with seed funding raised from Samsung Next, Sequoia Seed and CloudScale Capital Partners.

Helium

CEO: Amir Haleem

Helium is looking to shake up the IoT wireless connectivity market with a peer-to-peer network that encourages consumers to build out the network in exchange for cryptocurrency.

The San Francisco-based startup launched its "LongFi" wireless network that the company claims has 200 times the range of Wi-Fi at 1/1000th of the cost of a cellular modem. That coincided with the company raising a $15 million Series C round, bringing total funding to $51 million.

The company's network is now active in more than 425 U.S. cities after customers purchased more than 1,000 of its Helium Hotspots, which are $495 gateways that consumers can buy and connect to Wi-Fi in exchange for the possibility of receiving the company's cryptocurrency.

IOTech

CEO: Keith Steele

IOTech is betting big on the open IoT edge with its strategy to deliver a commercial version of the Linux Foundation's EdgeX Foundry open-source platform.

To accelerate development and channel support, the Edinburgh, Scotland-based startup raised a $7.5 million Series A funding round led by Dell Technologies Capital.

The startup's offerings include Edge Xpert, a commercial version of EdgeX that is vendor neutral and workings on multiple hardware and operating system configurations. As part of its partnership with Dell, Edge Xpert Is integrated with the OEM's 3000 and 5000 series edge gateways.

Ockam

CEO: Matthew Gregory

Ockam wants to make IoT hardware and software more secure by using blockchain technology and cryptography to create inherent trust between systems.

The San Francisco-based startup raised a $4.9 million seed round in June from a group of investors that includes Okta Ventures, the venture capital arm of identity management vendor Okta.

A key aspect to Ockam's approach is the use of "cryptographically provable, decentralized identifiers" that are assigned to each device. The startup then uses a blockchain-based registry for discovering public keys as well as protocols, endpoints and other device metadata.

ReFirm Labs

CEO: Derick Naef

ReFirm Labs thinks the best way to improve the security of IoT devices is by keeping tabs on their firmware for out-of-date software components and vulnerabilities.

The Fulton, Md.-based startup raised a $2 million funding round in October a few months after launching a partner program for its Centrifuge IoT security platform.

The IoT security startup has found traction with telecom companies, who are facing increased scrutiny and regulatory pressure to vet the security of the devices they are adding to their networks. Among the company's first major customers in that space are AT&T and Charter Communications.

Samsara

CEO: Sanjit Biswas

Samsara is tackling the transportation and industrial markets with a sensor data platform for connected operations that combines advanced cameras and sensors with software.

The San Francisco-based startup raised a $300 million funding around at a $6.3 billion valuation from a group of investors that included Tiger Global, Andreessen Horowitz and General Catalyst. The company said its customer base has more than doubled to 10,000, which includes the Simco Logistics and Collins Earthworks, while its revenue increased 200 percent from the previous year.

With Samsara's enterprise platform, the startup aims to help companies improve the efficiency of their operations using real-time GPS tracking, wireless sensors, video and mobile applications.

Zededa

CEO: Said Ouissal

Zededa wants to accelerate the adoption of IoT and artificial intelligence with edge virtualization software that makes it easy to deploy applications at the edge.

To further grow its platform, the Santa Clara, Calif.-based company raised a $16 million Series A funding round in February from a group of investors that included Ed Zander, former CEO of Motorola and former COO of Sun Microsystems.

Most recently, the startup announced that its software is available on the Microsoft Azure Marketplace as the Zededa Edge Quick Connect solution for Azure IoT, allowing customers and partners to easily provision, manage and secure IoT devices through virtualization.