The Israeli-founded IoT company, which offers advanced 5G network solutions, intends to invest the new funds in strengthening its technology stack, upgrading its global network to 5G and building a global SIM2Cloud offering
As businesses and operators prepare to operate and scale IoT services and monitor the activity of their devices, machines, and more globally, a startup that is building technology to make this easier and cheaper to implement is announcing some funding.
¿What is floLIVE?
FloLIVE offers advanced 5G network solutions, both privately and over the cloud, and a full suite of global cellular connectivity services for IoT.
FloLIVE’s connectivity management platform designed for IoT, comprises several building blocks that can function independently or form an integral part of a complete suite of IoT solutions.
FloLive, which has created a cloud-based solution to bridge local and private cellular networks to create global private 5G IoT networks for its customers, has raised $ 15.5 million, funds that it will use to continue expanding its service, both through investments such as developing its technology stack, upgrading its network to 5G where it is used, and building a global SIM2Cloud offering in partnership with an as yet unnamed global cloud provider.
Intel Capital, the investment arm of the chip giant, is leading the investment, with participation from Qualcomm Ventures, Dell Technologies Capital, 83North and Saban Ventures. Intel, Qualcomm, and Dell are all strategic sponsors here – all three working with carriers and businesses to empower and manage services and devices, potentially giving them a better way to integrate a much more flexible global network and technology to deliver those services. more fluidly in different geographies.
This is an extension of a $ 21.5 million round that London-based FloLive raised last year, bringing the Series B total to $ 37 million. From what we understand, the startup is now also working on its Series C.
As we move towards more ubiquitous 5G networks and services that use them, the market challenge FloLive faces is critical to getting it right.
Simply put, companies and operators building networks to manage IoT and other connected devices face a problem of scale. Typically, IoT networks to cover services like these are based on national or even more localized footprints, making it challenging, if not completely impossible, to centrally control or monitor devices on a global network.
“If you look at high-level networks at level one, you will see two main things,” said Nir Shalom, CEO of FloLive, in an interview. “These networks are designed for local footprints and primarily for consumers. What we do is different in that we think about the global footprint, not the local one; and our data networks are for IoT, not just for people. ”
Of course, there are some operators who might consider building their own networks to compete with this, but they will often lack the scaled use cases to do so and can work with vendors like FloLive to build them anyway. The big picture is that there are 900 largest mobile network operators globally, Shalom said, and most of that group is far from being able to do it themselves.
FloLive’s approach to solving this problem is not to build a completely new infrastructure, but to join networks from different locations and run them as a single network. It does this through its software-defined connectivity built and deployed in the cloud, linking not just 5G networks, but whatever cellular technology is in use (eg 4G, 3G, or even 2G) in a particular location.
FloLive’s technology lives in the core network, where it builds a private radio access network that it can integrate with operators and their capacity in different markets, while then managing the network for customers as a single service.
This is somewhat similar to what you might get with an enterprise virtual private network, except it specifically focuses on the types of use cases that might use connected objects (FloLive cites manufacturing, logistics, healthcare, and utilities as four areas) instead of employee laptops.
However, the resulting network also becomes a viable alternative for companies that might otherwise also use a VPN for connectivity, as well as for the operators themselves who need to expand their network for a customer. In addition to its IoT-centric core network, it also provides business support systems for IoT, device management, and solutions targeting specific verticals. FloLive supports devices that use SIM or eSIM or “softSIM” technology to connect to networks. That’s a part that probably interested those strategic investors, as it allows for significantly easier integration.
“We are really excited about floLIVE’s unique cloud-native approach to IoT connectivity,” said David Johnson, MD of Intel Capital, in a statement. “Cloud-native architectures provide the efficiency, scalability, and flexibility that are important for IoT services. Additionally, floLIVE’s cloud-based core can provide feature consistency across many independent private and public networks. We look forward to expanding the floLIVE products and services enabled by this investment. ”
Updated to take into account that the round is $15.5 million, not $ 15 million.
