The Week in Review: IoT

Products/Services
Vancouver, B.C.-based Riot Micro has brought out the RM1000 baseband modem chip for the cellular Internet of Things. The device is said to use Bluetooth Low Energy and Wi-Fi techniques to provide low-power and lower-cost connectivity, like short-range wireless systems. The chip is being marketed to module manufacturers and OEMs developing narrowband IoT and LTE-M products for applications in asset management, automotive electronics, home automation, industrial equipment, point-of-sale systems, smart energy, and vending machines. “We’ve taken a hardware-centric approach,” says Riot Micro CEO Peter Wong. Engineers at Riot Micro have extensive experience in Bluetooth, LTE, and Wi-Fi connectivity, it was said.

ICONICS has introduced the IoTWorx Industrial IoT software automation suite, which supports multiple operating systems, including various Linux distributions and Microsoft’s Windows 10 IoT Enterprise and IoT Core.

Solace announced the Solace Cloud, a managed messaging service. It is aimed at developers of microservices, IoT systems, mobile applications, and real-time data streaming. Solace Cloud supports popular standard messaging protocols, such as AMQP, JMS, MQTT, REST, and WebSocket.

CLX Communications reports that its CLX IoT connectivity service now supports voice communications. The service can play a part in IoT use cases, such as health monitoring, telemetry, and other IoT devices that require low-bandwidth communication.

Singapore-based Plintron, a provider of cloud communication services, has debuted an IoT Platform, which has modules for device management, SIM management, data storage, and analytics with artificial intelligence and machine learning capabilities, among other functions.

M&A
ASSA ABLOY, the owner of Yale and other lock brands, this week completed its acquisition of August Home, the startup supplier of smart locks and other home security products. Financial terms weren’t disclosed. Jason Johnson remains CEO of August Home, which will be allowed a measure of autonomy as a subsidiary of ASSA ABLOY.

Aspen Technology acquired the Cipher Industrial IoT cloud-native software and edge connectivity assets of RtTech Software. Financial terms weren’t disclosed. RtTech founder Keith Flynn and certain employees will join AspenTech as part of the acquisition.

Finance
SwipeSense of Chicago received $10.6 million in Series B2 funding led by Eclipse Ventures, with participation by Sandbox Industries. Eclipse led a $10 million round in 2015 for the company, founded by graduates of Northwestern University while they were still students. SwipeSense has developed sensors that track how often hospital employees wash their hands, with the aim of preventing infections. The startup has raised a total of $23.3 million in private funding and is working with 20 hospitals on implementing its IoT technology.

Tel Aviv, Israel-based Guardian Optical Technologies, a developer of sensors for automotive vehicles, has raised $5.1 million in Series A funding from Maniv Mobility and Mirai Creation Fund. Guardian was established in 2014.

Deals
Inuitive Ltd. and SoftBank Corp. will collaborate on development of artificial intelligence technology, deep learning, and advanced 3D sensing with computer vision capabilities for future IoT implementations. SoftBank Corp. is a subsidiary of SoftBank Group, the owner of Arm and other companies.

Market Research
The International Data Corporation (IDC) has updated its Worldwide Semiannual Internet of Things Spending Guide, forecasting global spending on the IoT will hit $772.5 billion next year, a 14.6% increase from 2017’s $674 billion. IDC predicts IoT spending will enjoy a compound annual growth rate of 14.4% through 2021, exceeding $1 trillion in 2020 and reaching $1.1 trillion in 2021. IoT hardware will account for $239 billion in 2018, mostly for modules and sensors. Services are the next largest IoT category, followed by software and connectivity. More details are available here.

The Wi-SUN Alliance reports half of organizations investing in IoT initiatives surveyed in the U.S., the U.K., Sweden, and Denmark have a fully implemented strategy in place, while 36% have a partially implemented strategy. Three-quarters of companies in the oil and gas industry have fully implemented strategies, while 59% of technology companies are fully implemented and 57% of energy/utilities companies have fully implemented strategies.

Juniper Research has its top 10 tech predictions for 2018 out. No. 4 is “Edge Computing to Fast-Track the IoT.”

Farewell
Lexumo, a Draper Laboratory spinout specializing in cybersecurity, has reportedly shut down. It was developing software that could detect and repair vulnerabilities in open-source software for connected devices and embedded systems. The IoT security startup received $4.89 million in funding from Accomplice, .406 Ventures, and Draper.