Greenwave Systems, which focuses on the Internet of Things and managed services for connected homes, has raised $45 million in its Series C funding. Key financial backers include EDBI, Singapore Technologies Telemedia and several existing investors.
Greenwave develops the AXON Platform, which allows service providers to deliver managed services for networking, media, control and monitoring. Much of Greenwave's focus involves massive managed service providers in the consumer market -- where home monitoring, connected lighting and energy management are emerging opportunities.
True believers include Verizon, which is shipping the FiOS Quantum Gateway -- a WiFi router solution that Greenwave helped to develop. The gateway is designed to handle numerous IoT devices and media formats -- audio, video, data, etc.
Although Greenwave is based in Irvine, Calif., the company's reach already is global. A prime example: Greenwave's technology aligns well with Singapore's "Smart Nation" vision, according to EDBI, one of the company's core investors. Moreover, EDBI pumped money into Greenwave to help accelerate the company's business across Asia, the investor says.
How Greenwave Helps MSPs
Greenwave claims that its solutions benefit managed services providers (MSPs) in several areas -- including:
- Self-Diagnostics and Self-Healing (SDHL), which allows devices to monitor, diagnose and heal its own internal performance and/or system failures using a dynamically configurable set of rules to reduce customer support calls and improve the overall user experience, the company claims.
- Home2Cloud, which is a cloud-based platform that connects all the devices to the Internet. Once a device is networked, customer self-care capabilities are enabled via automated troubleshooting guides.
- Network-based analytics
- Value store for big data applications: In-home devices contain hardware and software components each with differing functionality. The value store acts as the Central Nervous System both connecting these components and transmitting information to and from. Value store is integrated into each device to create a consistent methodology for monitoring component operational metrics; status and or levels.
IoT Opportunities, Challenges
Greenwave has certainly been in growth mode. The company now employees 240 people worldwide, and it recently opened a new research and development center in Singapore and an office in San Jose.
Still, the company faces some IoT wildcards. Some pundits expect industrial IoT opportunities -- involving factory floors, business sensors, medical equipment and more -- to gain major momentum before the consumer IoT market takes shape.
No doubt, U.S. homes are filled with IP-enabled devices. But IoT-oriented devices promoted at the annual Consumer Electronics Show in 2015 didn't exactly take off, and this year's IoT product launches at the conference face lots of competition in an immature market. Moreover, giants like Apple, Google, Cisco and Microsoft each are striving to develop IoT software standards and application platforms for ISVs.
ChannelE2E is seeking more information from Greenwave about the company's business strategy, and we'll update this article if/when interviews are completed.
