The Internet of Things (IoT) industry is on track to see nearly $3.7B in funding this year as connectivity and software are injected into sensor-laden objects and appliances. An increasing proportion of these dollars are being allocated to startups working specifically on the industrial IoT.
Related categories like 3D printing are also starting to see a resurgence as a host of corporate players like telecoms become involved in the industry.
Which firms are the most active players in the IoT? We used CB Insights data to rank VCs by their unique IoT investments over the past 5 years.
Our earlier 2015 analysis of most active IoT investors is appended at the bottom of this post. Click here to read it.
Interestingly, 5 of the top 12 IoT investors are corporate venture arms. When we performed this analysis at the end of 2015, only 3 of the top investors were CVCs.
Intel Capital still tops the list as the most active investor in IoT startups, with more than 40 unique IoT companies since 2012. GE Ventures wasn’t far behind (and is new to the ranking of top IoT investors) with recent investments in industrial-focused IoT startups like industrial analytics developer Sight Machine, fog computing platform Foghorn Systems, and commercial 3D printing startup Desktop Metal.
Following Andreessen Horowitz, the fourth-most active IoT investor is another CVC, Qualcomm Ventures. As we’ve noted in our prior investor roundups, Intel and Qualcomm are involved in designing and/or manufacturing ever-smaller chips to power mobile devices, and IoT likely offers them strategic value.
See the rest below. Click image to enlarge.
The Most Active Investors In The IoT — 2015 edition
Many corporate investors and smart money VCs have placed significant bets on the Internet of Things industry, which is expected to see nearly $2B in funding through the end of 2015.
Which firms are most active? We used CB Insights data to rank VCs by their unique IoT investments over the past 5 years.
Intel Capital tops the list as the most active investor in IoT startups, followed by Qualcomm Ventures. Both small-chip companies’ venture arms have been active investors in wearables startups and sensor companies. Since Intel and Qualcomm are involved in designing and/or manufacturing ever-smaller chips to power mobile devices, this area likely offers them strategic value.
- This year, Intel Capital led a round to BodyLabs, a maker of 3D body-scanning sensors, and also invested in Sano Intelligence, a biometric sensor developer. Intel Capital has also invested in wearables companies and made bets on IoT infrastructure startups like Stratoscale, Bocom Intelligent Network Technologies, and SigFox.
- Qualcomm Ventures recently invested in the drone company 3D Robotics and Whistle Labs, maker of a dog wearable. Qualcomm Ventures also invested in sensor networks developed by Panoramic Power, Placemeter, and Streetline, which measure energy usage and traffic in public spaces.
- The third-most active investors were Foundry Group and Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers. Foundry Group has made multiple bets on IoT-related hardware investments: Fitbit, LittleBits, and MakerBot. (Fitbit went public in June at a valuation of $4.1B, and MakerBot was acquired in Q3’13 at a $403M valuation.) And KPCB has been active across IoT categories including wearables (Jawbone, Motiv), home automation (Enlighted, Nest), and auto (Inrix, Waze)
See the rest below. Click image to enlarge.
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