The 10 Hottest IoT Startups Of 2018

With Internet of Things spending expected to reach $1.2 trillion, CRN looks at 10 of this year's hottest, channel-friendly IoT startups that stand to benefit from the sector's growth.

IoT Spending To Reach $1.2T By 2022

Good news for Internet of Things startups: IDC predicts that business spending on IoT projects is expected to reach $1.2 trillion by 2022 while growing annually at 13.6 percent.

While established IoT players like PTC and Siemens will also chase these dollars, the figures provided by IDC underscore the growing opportunity that startups have if they play their cards right.

CRN looked at 10 of this year's hottest IoT startups that are working with channel partners or plan to work with partners, and their applications range from IoT security to predictive analytics.

Armis

CEO: Yevgeny Dibrov

Armis is a provider of agentless IoT security software that gives enterprises full visibility and control over the increasing number of unmanaged devices on their network, including laptops, smartphones, smart TVs, digital assistants and HVAC systems.

The Palo Alto, Calif.-based startup raised a $30 million funding round in April that CEO Yevgeny Dibrov said will help the company become "100 percent channel-focused." Partners include Presidio, Red Sky Solutions and Inno4.

The company's research arm has uncovered vulnerabilities in IoT devices, including the BlueBorne exploit found in Bluetooth devices and BleedingBit, which impacts Bluetooth Low Energy chips.

ClearBlade

CEO: Eric Simone

ClearBlade is an edge computing software startup that helps enterprises connect disparate data streams from sensors, aggregate the data and normalize it for their cloud platform of choice.

The Austin, Texas-based startup unveiled a distribution partnership with Ingram Micro Canada that will initially focus on an integrated solution for smart buildings and smart refrigeration.

The company told the Austin Statesman that ClearBlade is in the process of raising a $25 million Series B round, which would follow the company's $3 million Series A round in 2017.

Falkonry

CEO: Nikunj Mehta

Falkonry is a Sunnyvale, Calif.-based startup that provides predictive analytics tools for industrial IoT deployments.

The company in August made its first public move to sway channel partners to use its operational machine- learning software that can integrate with existing software stacks and help industrial companies improve operations, throughput, quality and safety while reducing downtime.

Falkonry raised a $4.6 million Series A financing round in June led by Presidio Ventures, with participation from Polaris Partners, Zetta Venture Partners and Fortive.

FogHorn

CEO: David King

FogHorn is a provider of edge intelligence software that has scored partnerships with Cisco Systems, Hewlett Packard Enterprise and Google Cloud, among other large tech companies.

The Sunnyvale, Calif.-based company recently unveiled a new partnership with Dell EMC that will allow the hardware vendor to sell gateways and other edge devices preconfigured with FogHorn's Lightning edge intelligence software.

FogHorn has raised $47.5 million in funding from investors, including Intel Capital, Dell Technologies Capital, GE Ventures and The Hive Group.

Igor

CEO: Steve L'Heureux

Igor recently launched its Nexos smart building platform that connects and analyzes data from disparate systems using Power over Ethernet connectivity.

The Des Moines, Iowa-based company's PoE-based platform allows systems integrators and smart building designers to take advantage of a building's structured cable system while also using other connectivity types to control and automate various building systems.

The startup is now making a big push in the channel for Nexos, with more than 40 reseller partners already signed up and about a half-dozen promoting Nexos as a full IoT platform.

Nodle

CEO: Micha Benoliel

Nodle is a startup that aims to build out a low-cost, low-power IoT network that will use its own cryptocurrency for future expansion.

The San Francisco startup's IoT network relies on smartphone apps running Nodle's software to act as nodes on the network, which collects data from nearby IoT devices using Bluetooth.

The company recently raised a $1.5 million seed financing round that was led by Blockchange Ventures, with participation from Bootstrap Labs, Work Play Ventures and other investors.

Roambee

CEO: Sanjay Sharma

Roambee provides supply chain and asset tracking technology for several industries, including automotive, logistics, consumer goods, oil and gas, and manufacturing.

The Santa Clara, Calif.-based startup raised a $2 million funding round over the summer from MDI Ventures, the corporate venture capital arm of Telkom Indonesia, which brought the company's total funding to nearly $10 million.

The company's customers include Schneider Electric, 3M, BMW, Unilever, NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Philips and GlaxoSmithKline.

Samsara

CEO: Sanjit Biswas

Samsara is a San Francisco-based startup that provides a sensor data platform for connected operations at more than 5,000 customers across the world.

The company raised a $50 million funding round in March from return investors General Catalyst and Andreessen Horowitz that was expected to help the company grow its headcount from 300 employees to more than 550 by the end of the year.

The company's customers include Chobani, Procter & Gamble, Tyco and Blue Apron.

SensLynx

CEO: Rob Garry

SensLynx provides fleet tracking and asset management solutions that help companies in a variety of industries track their fleet vehicles for customer service, maintenance and other needs.

The Encinitas, Calif.-based startup recently launched its GPS Management Accelerator Program that helps resellers with marketing support, lead generation and prepackaged solutions.

Rob Garry, SensLynx's co-founder and CEO, previously worked for Ingram Micro and other companies that work in the channel, as well as Motorola.

Swim.Ai

CEO: Rusty Cumpston

Swim.ai is a provider of edge analytics software that raised a $10 million Series B round led by Cambridge Innovation Capital, with participation from Arm and other investors.

The San Francisco-based startup's software provides both local processing and local analytics at the edge for manufacturers, service providers and smart cities with self-learning "Digital Twins"

The company's first publicly disclosed customers are the City of Palo Alto and Iton.