Afero Raises $20.3 Million in Series A to Accelerate IoT in and Beyond the Smart Home

LOS ALTOS, Calif., May 18, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Today Afero, the platform bringing secure connectivity to the Internet of Things for both enterprises and the home, announces that it has completed a $20.3 million Series A financing. The investment is led by Samsung Catalyst Fund. The round is also joined by the SoftBank Group, Fenox Venture Capital, Presidio Ventures, Sanshin Electronics Co. Ltd., Robert Dobkin, and Assembly Partners.  

"Our technology helps companies rapidly create and deploy connected products by automating the core embedded, mobile, and cloud development tasks," said Joe Britt, CEO and co-founder of Afero. "Afero was designed to speed and simplify product development, whether companies choose to modernize a legacy product or create something entirely new."

To overcome the obstacles stifling the widespread adoption of IoT, the Afero platform delivers:

• IoT Beyond the Home: The Afero platform is built to power both the home and the enterprise IoT market, which is predicted to reach $3 trillion by 2021, more than 3x the size of the consumer IoT market.
• Greenfield and Brownfield Development: With Afero, it's incredibly easy to make something smart, whether you want to upgrade, connect and modernize a legacy product, or create something entirely new.
• Security Built-In: The Afero platform has layers of security embedded throughout the platform, from application services on your phone to network access control services with built-in authentication to the cloud and back.
• Interoperability: Afero seamlessly connects walled gardens by intelligently assembling all your smart devices, regardless of brand, so they can work together through the secure Afero end-to-end architecture.

Created by veterans from Apple, Amazon, Danger, and Nest, Afero unlocks smart capabilities for any product in virtually any industry. After 18 months in development, Afero went live in December 2015 and announced partnerships with industry leaders Murata, Infocom, and BANDAI NAMCO Studios. Afero serves as the secure foundation for these partners and others to drive IoT innovation and reimagine industries like automotive, retail, manufacturing, consumer electronics, gaming, healthcare, office supply, and more.

"Afero has built an elegant end-to-end platform solution that solves a real problem for companies struggling to set up, deploy and manage IoT at scale," said Shankar Chandran, vice president and head of Samsung Catalyst Fund, Samsung Electronics. "This investment amplifies our strategy of open innovation and collaboration, which fuels innovative startups and enables them to bring their visions to market more effectively."

"The team's experience and their playbook from past successes makes us believe Afero will power the next generation of IoT technologies," said Anis Uzzaman, General Partner from Fenox Venture Capital.

Fenox Venture Capital provides seed, venture, and growth-stage funding to emerging technology companies focused on the Internet, mobile, social, cloud, and emerging technologies areas.

"Afero has already demonstrated that its platform can be quickly deployed for large and small businesses alike," said Shaun Tanabe, Director of Presidio Ventures. "We think the benefits of IoT are only starting to be realized for corporations and consumers around the world."

Presidio Ventures, an early-stage investment vehicle of Sumitomo Corporation, brings a robust global portfolio, including a strong presence in Asian markets, and a focus on enterprise companies. Presidio Ventures has invested in 150 U.S. startups.

"We're excited and honored to have such an extraordinary group of investors," said Joe Britt, CEO and co-founder of Afero.

To learn more about Afero and its robust IoT platform, visit afero.io.

About Afero
Created by mobile and hardware veterans from Google, Apple, Nest, Danger, Amazon, Twitter, and Netflix, Afero is a comprehensive and secure platform for cloud-connected devices in any industry. The Afero turnkey architecture incorporates a secure Bluetooth® Smart module, scalable cloud services, and a range of development tools that enable companies and developers to quickly prototype and build connected devices, then gather meaningful analytics. Afero connects your smart devices and enables them to work together. Afero empowers entrepreneurs and companies to improve the way people communicate with each other and everything around them.

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