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Arise Yet Another IoT Connectivity Platform--Konekt Raises $1.3M

This article is more than 9 years old.

The Internet of Things (IoT) is undoubtedly the buzzword of the year. And with good reason. We are rapidly reaching a point where the convergence of ubiquitous connectivity, smart devices, cheap sensors and cloud services delivers the ability to enable incredible combined value. We've been hearing for years about how connected devices and sensors can deliver value - finally we're starting to see that becoming real.

So it should come as no surprise that we're also seeing much growth in the number of solutions that promise to enable this IoT connectivity - Octoblu (since acquired by Citrix) and AT&T's M2X platform are a couple of solutions I've recently covered.

Today it is the turn of Konekt to gain some attention. The company, which is announcing a $1.3 million fundraising event, aims to ease IoT device management and network connectivity. The fundraising itself comes from NextView Ventures; Mucker Capital; Tyler Willis Syndicate including Maiden Lane; Chris Muhr, SVP, EMEA and Founder, Groupon; and, Raj Ruparell, Co-Founder, Groupon International + Non Executive Advisor, Groupon.

Konekt hopes to solve some core issues with IoT connectivity - namely range and signal fidelity problems posed by regular use of WiFi and Bluetooth. Konekt, similar to AT&T's M2X, connects devices using cellular connectivity. While Bluetooth and WiFi are easy and cheap, they lack the robustness that broader IoT adoption needs, by moving to a cellular model, Konekt is helping to remedy this.

The Konekt Toolkit is comprised of three integrated pieces, including:

  • The Konekt Global SIM card that provides worldwide internet access
  • The Konekt Cloud which routes and stores all data on the Konekt network
  • The Konekt Management Portal, which allows for management (i.e., billing, activation, etc.) of all devices

The approach of enabling IoT communications via cellular networks makes sense, but the question here is whether Konekt can really compete with telcos who already own the communication channels and simply need to re-purpose them to cover the IoT use case. With traditional telco revenues diminishing, and an increasing awareness of IoT, carriers are increasingly seeing this as an opportunity - AT&T's investment is an example of this. It is easy to imagine that Konekt will have a hard time scaling in the face of massive investment by far bigger organizations.

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