Skylo, a San Mateo, CA-based maker of network that connects any machine or sensor, emerged from stealth with $116m in total funding.
The company previously raised $13m in a Series A round that was co-led by DCM and Innovation Endeavors, and joined by Moore Strategic Ventures. The new Series B round raised $103m, led by SoftBank Group and joined by all existing investors.
Founded in 2017 by CEO Parth Trivedi, Chief Technology Officer Dr. Andrew Nuttall and Chief Hub Architect Dr. Andrew Kalman, Skylo will bring Internet of Things connectivity to millions of machines, sensors and devices, even in the most remote geographies by leveraging a cellular Narrowband Internet of Things (NB-IoT) protocol via satellite. Its new satellite connectivity leverages existing geostationary satellites to bring reliable connectivity without the need to add new infrastructure in space.
Customers already include enterprise and government entities in a range of industries including automotive, railways, agriculture and maritime.
The use cases are diverse and transformational for industry and government customers:
– Mobilizing data for shipping and logistics.
– Improving agriculture crop health and productivity.
– Digitizing the fisheries industry.
– Connectivity for modern passenger transportation systems.
The company’s end-to-end solution encompasses the Skylo Hub, the Skylo Network, the Skylo Data Platform and Skylo API. Mass manufacturing of the Hub is underway and the Network is already live with early customers. The company will scale customer implementations first in India and other emerging markets, where it has already started implementing the technology in a range of industries. Its service will be commercially available later this summer and the company is in commercial trials with users in the U.S. and other world regions for subsequent launches and market expansion.
FinSMEs
21/01/2020