Wipro Ventures leads $4M investment in Pune-based IoT startup, Altizon
Pune-based Altizon Systems, an Internet of Things (IoT) platform, today announced that it has closed a $4 million Series A funding round led by Wipro Ventures. Lumis Partners and current investors, The Hive and Infuse Ventures, also participated in this round. Co-founded by Vinay Nathan, Yogesh Kulkarni and Ranjit Nair in 2013, Altizon claims to be the world’s first 'Industrial Internet platform' company focussed on making enterprises Internet of Things(IoT) ready.
With their flagship product, Datonis IoT Platform, Altizon aims to help enterprises build IoT products and solutions in weeks by providing device connectivity kits, a device management layer, a scalable, real-time, big-data analytics engine and alerting and monitoring services. Enterprises can use the platform for driving their condition-based monitoring, predictive analytics and machine learning solutions. Altizon is currently seeing traction from enterprises in the manufacturing and cleantech sectors for their IoT initiatives.
Going forward, the company plans to utilise the funds to scale up its sales and marketing functions both in India and globally. Vinay, Co-founder and CEO, says,
With this development, we plan to take Altizon’s value proposition globally and continue to invest in our innovation edge around the Datonis™ platform.
The Series A funding builds on a good 2015 for Altizon, marked by strategic partnerships with industry leaders like Wipro Ltd, and Kepware to further its go-to-market initiatives. Biplab Adhya, VP and Co-Head, Wipro Ventures said,“We are seeing increasing adoption of IoT technologies across our customer base. The Altizon investment represents our commitment to investing in companies building disruptive technologies,”
Rohit Bhayana, Managing Partner of Lumis Partners, who will be joining Altizon’s Board stated, “Industrial IoT has a direct bearing on productivity, client satisfaction and market leadership and therefore, it’s not another ‘good to do’, but a ‘must have’. Altizon has the depth and agility that OEMs need in such a critical space.”
Sector overview
The global IoT market is expected to grow to grow to $1.7 trillion by 2020, according to a report by IDC. Devices, connectivity, and IT services are expected to account for two-thirds of the IoT market by 2020. Global giant Google has show keen interest in this space. In 2014, the search giant had acquired smart thermostat maker Nest Labs for $3.2 billion. It is also focussing on smart robots, driverless cars and other initiatives. Samsung too has shown interest in this space and is currently developing its own operating system - Tizen - to connect their extended network of devices like fridges, televisions and wearables. IBM too has an 'IoT Foundation' that helps SMBs leverage their Bluemix platform to create apps that can leverage connected devices and sensors.
Many Indian and India-based startups and enterprises are also looking to get a head start in this sector. Cisco has been working on a 'Smart City' project at its Bengaluru campus for a few years. The Indian government too has shown interest in this space and aims to create 100 smart cities in India and also improve infrastructure in other cities.
YourStory take
IoT shows a lot of promise in making technology more seamless and useful for human needs. It will be interesting to see how enterprises and the general public leverage it for their benefit. Enterprises generally have deeper pockets and are more willing to try out new solutions compared to end consumers (B2C) space. So, with their HQ in Pune, presence in Palo Alto and backing from marquee investors, Altizon has a good chance of capturing the enterprise (B2B) market in India.
Website: Altizon