The 10 Top IoT Startups Of 2019 (So Far)

CRN takes a look at the 10 top Internet of Things startups of 2019 so far, which cover everything from security and connectivity to analytics and application development.

Channel-Friendly IoT Startups That Are Making Moves

With companies projected to spend more than $1 trillion on Internet of Things projects in 2022, hundreds of startups are vying for a sizable portion of that ever-growing pie.

That puts these IoT startups in competition with several established and well-funded incumbents in everything from security and connectivity to analytics and application development. While the number of venture capital deals for IoT startups decreased in 2018, total deal volume was up 8.3 percent from the year before, according to research firm GlobalData.

As the midpoint of 2019 approaches, CRN is looking at the 10 top IoT startups of the year so far. These startups range in funding amount, employee count and focus, but one thing they do have in common is a strategy to work with channel partners to support their growth.

Altizon

CEO: Vinay Nathan

Altizon is taking on industrial Internet of Things heavyweights like PTC and Siemens with a cloud-agnostic platform that provides edge connectivity and advanced analytics, among other things.

The startup, which has offices in Scotts Valley, Calif., and Pune, India, recently raised a $7 million funding round from Wipro Ventures, a Singapore-based subsidiary of Indian motorcycle manufacturer TVS Motor Company and other investors. The company has 132 enterprise customers across 31 countries, including TVS Motors, Procter & Gamble and Ecolab.

Altizon's end-to-end industrial IoT offering includes Datonis Edge for connecting edge devices and analyzing their data, the Datonis core platform for advanced analytics and integration, and the Datonis Manufacturing Intelligence suite, which comes with modules for productivity, quality, maintenance, energy profiling and traceability.

Armis

CEO: Yevgeny Dibrov

Armis aims to give enterprises complete visibility and control over the increasing amount of unmanaged connected devices into the workplace with an agentless security platform.

The Palo Alto, Calif.-based startup recently raised a $65 million Series C round that was led by venture capital heavyweight Sequoia Capital. Out of its roughly 50 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, which includes roughly 40 partners.

Armis' agentless security platform gives enterprises a full view of the unmanaged devices on their networks, continuously monitors the devices for anomalous and malicious behavior, and disconnects or segments them when necessary.

BehrTech

CEO: Albert Behr

BehrTech claims to have a better solution for low-power, wide-area networks in industrial Internet of Things deployments with its recently launched MyThings software platform.

The new platform uses a new LPWAN protocol licensed from the Fraunhofer Institute called MIOTY that BehrTech says has much lower interference than LoRa, the proprietary long-range wireless protocol that has been popular in IoT. Because MyThings is a software overlay, the company says it can work with standard gateways and sensors, allowing for easy integration into legacy environments.

Most recently, the Toronto-based company said that Advantech will provide a MyThings module for the M2.Com sensor platform. Other ecosystem partners include Intel, Hitachi Solutions, Microsoft, Axonize and Synaptic Technologies.

CyberX

CEO: Omer Schneider

CyberX [claims to deliver] the only industrial cybersecurity platform built by blue-team experts with a track record of defending critical national infrastructure.

The Boston-based startup, whose platform provides continuous monitoring and vulnerability management for industrial control systems, recently raised an $18 million funding round from Qualcomm Ventures and other investors, bringing total funding to $48 million.

The company says its customers include two of the top five U.S. energy providers, a top five global pharmaceutical company, a top five U.S. chemical company, and national electric and gas utilities across Europe and Asia-Pacific. Its partners include Palo Alto Networks, IBM Security, Optiv and DXC Technology.

Falkonry

CEO: Nikunj Mehta

Falkonry wants to make it easier for industrial companies to run predictive analytics by providing a machine-learning system that doesn't require data scientists.

The Sunnyvale, Calif.-based startup recently launched its Edge Analyzer system, which allows companies to run predictive analytics in remote or mobile environments with low hardware requirements. This is an expansion of its Falkonry LRS system for cloud and on-premises servers that promises to reduce downtime and improve operations by using machine learning to identity patterns in time-series data.

The company has raised $10.9 million in funding so far, most recently with a $4.6 million Series A round led by Presidio Ventures and SparkLabs Accelerator last year. The company also has a partner program for OEMs, system integrators, distributors, resellers and referral partners.

Helium

CEO: Amir Haleem

Helium is looking to shake up the Internet of Things 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 recently launched its "LongFi" wireless network that the company said has 200X the range of Wi-Fi at 1/1,000th 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 is supporting the buildout of its network with the sale of 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. Early customers include Nestle, Lime and InvisiLeash.

Losant

CEO: Charlie Key

Losant wants to make it easy for enterprises to build user interfaces for Internet of Things applications with its cloud-based, low-code development software.

The Cincinnati-based startup said its visual workflow engine gives enterprises the ability to accelerate IoT application development while saving money on building custom solutions. The platform includes capabilities for data visualization, device connectivity and data normalization. Most recently, the company launched Losant Notebooks, a new feature for running batch analytics on historical data.

The company raised a $5.2 million Series A funding round last year from CincyTech and former AOL CEO Steve Case's Rise of the Rest seed fund. The company has a partner program for solution providers who design, plan and implement IoT solutions for their customers.

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.

At the end of last year, the San Francisco-based startup raised a $100 million funding round at a $3.6 billion valuation from venture capital heavyweights General Catalyst and Andreessen Horowitz. The closing of the round followed a banner year for the company, which saw its annual revenue grow 250 percent in 2018 thanks to a customer count that reached 5,000.

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.

Sight Machine

CEO: Jon Sobel

Sight Machine seeks to become the "SAP of industrial data" with its digital manufacturing platform, which it claims is unique in its ability to create a digital twin of the entire manufacturing process.

The San Francisco-based startup recently raised a $29.4 million Series C round led by LS Group, a South Korean conglomerate with holdings in electrical equipment and automation systems, among other businesses. The company’s customers include "some of the world's largest companies" across the automotive, food and beverage, and pulp and paper industries.

By taking hundreds of structured and unstructured data sources from the plant floor and turning them into digital twins, Sight Machine's platform can enable manufacturers to quickly create customized analytics and applications for things like predictive maintenance and root cause analysis.

VDOO

Co-CEOs: Uri Alter, Netanel Davidi

VDOO is tackling the Internet of Things security space with an end-to-end offering that includes firmware vulnerability analysis and on-device software that custom-tailors security features.

The Tel Aviv-based startup recently raised a $32 million Series B funding round from Japanese mobile phone giant NTT Docomo and other investors, bringing its total funding to $45 million. The company's early partners include NTT, Macnica, DNP and Fujisoft.

The company's Vision analysis platform analyzes the firmware of connected devices to identify vulnerabilities and provide recommendations for improving device security. The results of that analysis can then be used to install software onto the device that provides custom security features.