Konekt raises US$1.3m to enable the Internet of Things through cellular connectivity

Chicago, IL, USA. February 19, 2015 – Konekt, the developer of a new toolkit for IoT device management and network connectivity, today announced it has raised a US$1.3 million round of funding from multiple investors. The new toolset is designed to make it easy and affordable to build Internet of Things (IoT) devices that work everywhere.

Konekt represents a key step in connecting the forecast billions of things to the internet by simplifying the process of building connected products that work outside the home. Headquartered in Chicago and founded in 2013, Konekt provides global internet connectivity with a single piece of hardware, allowing makers, OEMs and systems integrators of all sizes and levels of sophistication to build devices that easily and securely connect to the internet with cellular connectivity.

Primary investors include: NextView Ventures; Mucker Capital; Tyler Willis Syndicate including Maiden Lane; Chris Muhr, SVP, EMEA and Founder, Groupon; and, Raj Ruparell, Co-Founder, Groupon International + Non Executive Advisor, Groupon.

Konekt is claimed to solve many of the range and signal fidelity problems posed by WiFi and Bluetooth by making it simple to connect devices to the internet using cellular connectivity. Konekt offers transparent pricing, robust (application program interfaces) APIs for device management, and a cloud platform for device communication, making it easy for anyone to build connected devices that use cellular connectivity.

“Konekt is the missing link in the machine-to-machine (M2M) and Internet of Things market,” say Konekt’s co-founders Ben Forgan, CEO, and Pat Wilbur, Ph.D., CTO. “Previously, it has been expensive and inconvenient to connect devices to the internet via cellular connectivity. With Konekt, makers, OEMs and systems integrators of all sizes and levels of sophistication can now build devices that easily and securely connect to the internet with cellular connectivity.

“We are making enterprise grade tools, technologies, and connectivity options available at the consumer level. The consumerisation of enterprise technology is a tried and true model that has been applied successfully in other areas; we believe that there is a major opportunity for an M2M platform that simplifies the process and puts makers and developers first.”

• The Konekt Global SIM card that provides worldwide internet access;
• The Konekt Cloud which routes and stores all data on the Konekt network; and
• The Konekt Management Portal which allows for easy management (i.e., billing, activation, etc.) of all devices.

“We see the potential for Konekt to build a very large business as the platform of choice for developers of cellular connected hardware,” said Lee Hower of NextView Ventures. “It’s a picks and shovels business poised for scale as the IoT and connected device market only continues to grow.”