56 Startups Disrupting the Industrial IoT

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CB Insights:

We mapped the startup landscape into 9 major categories:

Manufacturing & Supply Chain

These companies are using connected objects to enhance data collection in manufacturing and in the supply chain. These companies include CargoSense‘s connected black boxes for detecting the movement of containers as they are shipped. Also included here are manufacturing robots like Momentum Machines and Rethink Robotics, along with warehouse robots like RoboCV.

Extraction & Heavy Industry

This section encompasses sensor platforms designed for use in hard-hat environments like the oil and gas, mining, and construction industries. Some startups are focused on specific verticals. Groundsensing (locating wells), Tachyus (extracting oil and gas), and Aptomar (spill safety) make sensor networks for oil and gas production. And Skycatch employs UAVs to capture data for the rendering of construction sites in 3D.

Network Infrastructure & Sensor Developers

Companies here are are building out the networks and developing the physical sensors that will undergird the IIoT as a whole. Samsara and DorsaVi develop industrial-grade sensors for a variety of applications including fleet management, machines, energy, and industrial wearables. Others like SigFox have built out the wireless networking for the IIoT.

Utilities & Smart Grid

Startups in this area develop tech that enables more efficient distribution of electricity, gas and water, and often market to utility companies. Trilliant,Tendril, and BluePillar are smart-meter enabled solutions for utilities and large enterprises to manage usage and reporting.

Cloud Platforms

Cloud vendors here commonly market themselves as platforms-as-a-service (PaaS) companies that allow other IoT and IIoT companies to manage and maintain their device networks. Meshify and TempoIQ are examples here.

Big Data Analytics & Machine Learning SaaS

Big data software-as-a-service companies, or machine learning technology, allows companies to find insights and derive predictive analytics such as when machines will need maintenance.

Transportation & Fleet

Startups in this category are changing the landscape for connected vehicle fleets. Telogis and Greenroad, for example, develop fleet-tracking platforms using telematics data from large trucks. Others like Metromile are changing fleet insurance by using connected hardware to prorate insurance by mileage, a technology that is already being deployed to insure Uber drivers.

IIoT Cybersecurity

This category includes startups that are focusing on the large task of securing connected industrial IoT applications from cyberattack. The IIoT has already suffered serious hacks; a German steel mill suffered “massive damages” after hackers accessed a blast furnace that workers could not properly shut down.Bastille is one of several startups in the space.