Our lives are becoming increasingly connected, and the technology that surrounds us is becoming more ubiquitous and intelligent every day. But if you work in a traditional industry — manufacturing, logistics, energy, etc. — the world is less connected and opportunities to catch up with the digital age are complex and confusing.
That’s because technology and innovation are not evenly distributed, and the decades-old manufacturers that lead traditional industries are more likely to be the disrupted than the disruptor. Particle is here to help to change this dynamic; we’re here to empower the next generation of IoT companies and bring the physical world online to fundamentally change how traditional industries operate.
Our success can be measured by our customers’ growth; the average fleet of IoT products on our platform has grown by 70% since the beginning of the year, and our revenue has grown 150% year-over-year. In order to continue expanding our footprint and investing in growth, we raised a $40 million Series C round of investment, led by Qualcomm Ventures and Energy Impact Partners.
Raising this capital is an important milestone for us. And we wanted to take a moment to reflect on it and thank our customers who have been on this crazy journey with us.
Transforming our customers into industry leaders
Our customers have been developing and launching IoT products on the Particle platform since 2013, when we launched our first hardware development kit. Over the past six years, it’s been incredible to see the growth of our customers’ businesses which transformed how our platform supports them. Our customers who started as early innovators are now leaders in their industries. Here are a few examples:
- Opti is preventing city flooding through its intelligent stormwater management system in forty-one cities around the world; it’s connected solution moves millions of gallons of storm runoff to ensure sewage systems aren’t overloaded.
- Jacuzzi brought their connected spa product, SmartTub, to market to provide a better experience for their consumers; now with thousands in market (launched in just six months), they’re seeing a 6% lift in retail margin.
- As micromobility surprised everyone by becoming the fastest-growing market in IoT, our customers like Shared Technologies and Korean-based Olulo are successfully tackling the incumbents in the space.
- The Air National Guard is using a Dynamis asset tracking solutions with its first responders in public emergencies. This provides real-time data for more efficient coordination with reduced time and cost in critical situations.
That’s just a few of our customers who are creating serious impact with IoT and we’re grateful to be the platform powering their connected solutions.
Our new and reinvesting partners
Qualcomm Ventures and Energy Impact Partners are incredible partners for Particle as we look towards the future. Qualcomm Ventures was a natural fit for Particle because they make a lot of the technology that is embedded deep within IoT products. As we see a burgeoning opportunity across the energy sector with the potential for social impact, Energy Impact Partners is the right partner to help us change the future of energy.
We’re also pleased that all our major investors from previous raises are continuing to invest in Particle’s growth: Root Ventures, Bonfire Ventures, Industry Ventures, Spark Capital, OATV, Green D Ventures, Counterpart Ventures, and SOSV all participated in this round.
What’s coming next for Particle
Particle will use the money raised in this round of funding to continue developing our enterprise IoT platform suite, as well as scale our engineering and product teams. These new team hires will help bolster our professional engineering service (Particle Studios) and help our customers bring their products to market. We’ll also be expanding into new global markets while hiring in sales and marketing.
We are optimistic about the future, and if it wasn’t clear, we are hiring. The IoT industry is complicated and in need of talented individuals who can help bring the cost of connectivity down and help our customers build the connected products of the future. When this has been accomplished, entire industries will be revolutionized. And we’ll be out there, leading the charge.
Particle Series C raise in the news
- Forbes – Particle Raises $40M to Make IoT Easy, Connect the Next 15B Devices, And Maybe Even Fix California’s Fires
- TechCrunch – IoT Security Startup Particle Raises $40M in Series C
- VentureBeat – Particle Raises $40 Million for IoT Device Management and Developer Tools
- SiliconANGLE – IoT Startup Particle Reels in $40M Round Co-led by Qualcomm
- Gearbrain – Particle Gets Funding to Drive Widespread IoT Adoption
- SDxCentral – Qualcomm-Backed Particle Banks $40M to Expand IoT Platform
- IoT Tech News – IoT platform Particle raises $40m in Qualcomm-led funding round
- PEHub – IoT platform Particle gathers $40mln Series C
- ADT Mag – How Do You Get Non-Technical Organizations to Trust IoT?
- FinSMEs – Particle Secures $40M in Series C Funding
- Pitchbook – Particle valued at $200M with $40M round
- Stacy on IoT – news roundup
- Axios – Pro Rata: Venture Capital Deals
- Only Info Tech – IoT Security Startup Particle Raises $40M In Series C
- Telecompaper – Particle raises USD 40 mln led by Qualcomm Ventures, Energy Impact Partners
- Fortune – Fair’s CEO Scott Painter Resigns as Car-Leasing Startup Seeks a Path to Profitability: Term Sheet
- PYMNTS – Particle Lands $40M To Become ‘All-In-One’ Solution For IoT Devices
- Indus Dictum – IoT Platform Particle Raises $40M Led by Qualcomm Ventures, Energy Impact Partners
- San Diego Tribune – Qualcomm Ventures bets on IoT Startup in 40m funding round
- Yahoo! Finance – Particle Raises $40M Led by Qualcomm Ventures and Energy Impact Partners to Empower Traditional Industries and Drive Widespread IoT Adoption
- Oil & Gas 360 (Enercom) – Particle Raises $40M Led by Qualcomm Ventures and Energy Impact Partners to Empower Traditional Industries and Drive Widespread IoT Adoption
