The Week In Review: IoT

Finance
Santa Monica, Calif.-based Sixgill reports raising $27.9 million in its Series B round of private financing, led by DRW Venture Capital. Mobile Financial Partners participated in the round. The startup last year raised $6 million in its Series A funding, also led by DRW. The company offers the Sixgill Sense sensor data services platform, addressing applications in the Internet of Things, the Industrial IoT, and the Internet of Everything.

Cloudleaf has received $13 million in its Series A round of funding from IndusAge Partners, Bold Capital Partners, Tandem Capital, Mahindra Partners, and other angel investors. The startup will use the money to bring its Sensor Fabric technology to market for Industrial IoT applications. Milpitas, Calif.-based Cloudleaf was founded in 2014 and counts ArcelorMittal, Dickten Masch Plastics, and Magna International among its customers.

ClearBlade of Austin, Texas, took in $3 million for its Series A funding, led by Align Capital. Other investors include Capital Factory, Jan Lindelow, Jim Schneider, Brett Hurt, Andrew Busey, and Ben Lamm. The IoT software startup markets the ClearBlade Cloud Platform and the ClearBlade Edge Platform for enterprise IoT applications. ClearBlade was established in 2012 and is a member of the Industrial Internet Consortium.

Atlanta-based Cognosos raised $7.1 million in a Series A round led by Cox Enterprises. Covalent Partners and Pete Kight also participated in the round. Cognosos was founded in 2014 and has developed low-power wireless technology that can transmit data from automotive vehicles, parking meters, and other devices.

M&A
Itron has agreed to acquire Silver Spring Networks for $16.25 per share in cash, valuing the transaction at about $830 million, net of Silver Spring’s $118 million in cash. The acquisition, unanimously approved by the boards of both companies, is expected to close in late 2017 or early 2018, pending a regulatory review and the approval of Silver Spring shareholders. Silver Spring serves cities, enterprises, and utilities around the world and has delivered more than 26.7 million devices in its IoT network and data platforms, enabling what it calls the Internet of Important Things.

Organizations
The midnight train to Georgia could soon be running on IoT technology. The Metro Atlanta Chamber and the Atlanta Committee for Progress have enlisted more than two dozen Atlanta-based enterprises to join IoT.ATL, an effort to foster IoT products and software in the capital of the Peach State. Accenture advised the chamber group on the initiative, recommending that it pursue smart cities and transportation technology. The Georgia Institute of Technology (Georgia Tech) already has a Center for the Development and Application of Internet of Things, which will play a role in IoT.ATL.

Products/Services
Synopsys says it worked with Brite Semiconductor and Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corp. (SMIC) on developing an IoT platform. Brite provided the design services in integrating the DesignWare ARC Data Fusion Subsystem, the ARC EM9D processor, and USB, I3C, and mobile storage intellectual property from Synopsys. The team used SMIC’s 55LL process technology to create a test chip. The electronic design automation company has an ARC IoT Development Kit for coding software to run on ARC processor-based systems. Meanwhile, Synopsys unveiled the DesignWare ARC Secure IP Subsystem for such applications as smart metering, embedded SIMs, and embedded Universal Integrated Circuit Cards.

GE Transportation is using the SAS Event Streaming Process from SAS Institute with General Electric’s Predix platform to decipher and analyze IoT data from GE locomotives and to identify use patterns to keep the trains running on time.

INTEGRITY Security Services will present its cybersecurity technology for automotive electronics and secure IoT devices at the Cyber Secure Car Japan conference on Tuesday and Wednesday, September 26-27, at Kogakuin University in Tokyo’s Shinjuku Skyscraper District.

Deals
Essity will use the Microsoft Azure cloud-computing service to widen use of its Tork facility management and TENA personal care brand products and services.

Market Research
The TechVision practice at Frost & Sullivan has a new report, Cybersecurity Innovations in the Connected World. Artificial intelligence, big data, and context-aware computing will converge with IoT to present more viable security precautions, according to the market research firm. “Despite fingerprint technology’s higher growth and significant revenue contribution in the past, new technologies such as iris, face, and vein recognition are witnessing strong adoption across industries. These new forms of biometric authentication are primarily focused toward improving the accuracy and flexibility of usage for end-users,” Frost & Sullivan’s Swapnadeep Nayak said in a statement. “In addition, advanced analytics is playing a vital role in empowering businesses to draw fast, actionable insights from connected ecosystems while delivering granular segmentation for more accurate analysis.” Details on the report are available here.

Research and Markets has a new report, Internet of Things (IoT) Software Development: IoT APIs, Apps, and Services Market Outlook and Forecasts 2017-2022.