Bridging the enterprise and consumer worlds of the Internet of Things (IoT), Arrayent Inc. looks to a global takeover with $15 million in fresh funding. Its Series C round, Arrayent attracts the participation of ORIX Ventures, joining previous investors DCM Ventures, Intel Capital, Opus Capital and Comerica Bank. With the funds, Arrayent intends to expand growth in the expected markets: the U.S., Europe and Asia.

As a company that’s set out to build the cloud and infrastructure businesses need to craft connected products that work seamlessly with each other over time, Arrayent will be focusing a good deal of global growth efforts on partnerships and industry education.

An Arrayent spokesperson explains: “We are in the process of increasing our global sales and partnership teams and driving efforts to both generate more awareness and to close global deals with leading global brands.”

Some of those brands include Whirlpool, Maytag, Chamberlain and Pentair, with Arrayent developing and delivering over 60 connected consumer products on their behalf. Most recently, Arrayent teamed with Procter & Gamble on Febreeze’s first connected product. The smart room deodorizer is equipped with sensors to detect room temperature and humidity, and can synchronize scent release with a home’s HVAC system for automated and effective coverage. Better yet, Febreeze’s smart deodorizer is compatible with Nest’s learning thermostat to extend scheduling and personalized scent control.

“As more consumers become comfortable with IoT devices and products, they will want the added convenience of having those products work together,” says Arrayent’s spokesperson. “Arrayent will provide the platform to enable this interoperability and seamless experience. Product companies recognize that this will give them the biggest advantage to connect with both existing and new customers.”

Owning the IoT service cloud

With a goal to standardize and service the manufacturing sector in the IoT era, Arrayent has competition across the board, from Xively to Amazon. It’s the company’s cloud platform that sets Arrayent apart, providing much more than a software developer kit to clients. Arrayent can manage the end-to-end lifecycle of a connected product, ensure its software upgrades along the way, and push analytics related to the product’s usage for research and development purposes.

The perks of such a centralized service include security for IoT products, as we learned in an interview with Arrayent founder Shane Dyer. The advantage, he explained, is the Arrayent platform’s lack of complexity, which enables improved security with fewer components to constantly monitor and patch for backdoor vulnerabilities.  

In Arrayent’s 2016 pipeline is device compatibility to increase interoperability amongst connected products. Supporting this initiative is the ongoing development of the company’s cloud framework called Ecosystem, where the developer community can collectively address the specific needs of manufacturer clients. Arrayent also intends to drive the value proposition to businesses by consulting on the transition to IoT, anticipating every consumer brand’s need to literally connect with their consumers.

To date, Arrayent has raised $28 million in funding.

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