10 Blockbuster Acquisitions That Helped Companies Get Ahead In IoT In 2017

Who Has Been Shopping For IoT?

Over the first half of 2017, vendors have been aggressively building up their Internet of Things capabilities by acquiring analytics, connectivity, and operational technology security startups.

Meanwhile, bigger vendors have been pushing into the connected car space by adding startups with infotainment systems and cybersecurity capabilities to their wish lists. The year was led off by two blockbuster connected car acquisitions in March – Intel's $15 billion purchase of Mobilieye and Samsung's $8 billion purchase of Harman.

Here are 10 of the biggest Internet of Things acquisitions in 2017 so far.

Intel - Mobileye

Intel's announcement in March that it would purchase Mobileye for a blockbuster $15.3 billion reaffirmed the chip company's new commitment to the connected car market.

Intel CEO Brian Krzanich (pictured) said in a statement that Mobileye, which manufactures chip-based camera systems for automated systems in connected vehicles, will help Intel accelerate its efforts around computer vision, localization and mapping, machine learning and artificial intelligence in the autonomous vehicle space.

Israel-based Mobileye comes with a portfolio loaded with tools for advanced driver assistance systems, from surround vision, sensor fusion, mapping, and driving policy products for car OEMs like Honda, BMW, and Volvo.

Samsung - Harman

Samsung in March announced it had closed an $8 billion deal to acquire connected car technology company Harman as part of its overall push into the autonomous vehicle market.

The South Korean mobile giant said that Harman's leadership in connected car technologies – including infotainment systems, cybersecurity capabilities, and telematics – would bolster its own connectivity technologies including 5G and display products. Samsung, which has also pledged to dish out $1.2 billion over the next four years for IoT-related research and startups, said the acquisition will give it access to Harman's 8,000 software designers and engineers who are "unlocking the potential of the IoT market."

Verizon – Skyward

Verizon in February announced it had purchased drone management company Skyward as it looks to strengthen its IoT strategy. Portland, Ore.-based Skyward helps companies connect, integrate and manage commercial drone operations.

Verizon said that Skyward's technology would be integrated into ThingSpace, the provider's IoT platform for developers. The telecom company said it wants to simplify the certification process and connectivity of wireless drones through its Airborne LTE Operations business unit. Terms of the acquisition were not disclosed.

Osram – Digital Lumens

Lighting manufacturer Osram in August announced it would acquire Boston, Mass.-based Digital Lumens, which specializes in industrial IoT solutions. Digital Lumens software platform can be used to run applications covering everything from intelligent lighting control, energy use, and security systems to the measurement of environmental parameters such as air quality.

Osram said that the acquisition would enable it to expand its business with digital lighting solutions and add to its expertise in software, sensors, and connectivity. Terms of the acquisition were not disclosed.

Avnet – Dragon Innovation

Avent in August announced it had acquisition Dragon Innovation to help the company's role in developing new technology products by simplifying the manufacturing process – particularly for projects that advance IoT.

Dragon Innovation, which has a cloud-based Product Planner platform that manages the full manufacturing process from earlier stage products to factory selection, will complement Avnet's breadth in the industrial market with consumer electronics market expertise for IoT, said Avnet. Terms and conditions of the acquisitions were not revealed.

HPE – CTP

Hewlett Packard Enterprise in September announced it had purchased Amazon Web Services premier consultancy Cloud Technology Partners, which specializes in IoT. HPE said its acquisition of the Boston-based solution provider would help end users migrate, innovate and operate in the cloud. CTP has experience using IoT, big data and machine learning to help its customers build new cloud solutions.

"Together with CTP, we will provide customers with the ability to move quickly, build new innovative digital experiences, simply manage and forecast IT costs, and ensure the applications running their business stay secure," Ana Pinczuk (pictured), senior vice president and general manager of HPE Pointnext, wrote in a blog post.

Terms of the acquisition were not revealed.

Altran – GlobalEdge

Altran in September said it had acquired GlobalEdge Software Limited, an India-based product engineering company that specializes in embedded software and IoT solutions.

The company hopes that its acquisition will increase its presence in India and provide Altran with more deep expertise in connectivity technology, as well as support its overall software strategy. GlobalEdge has a deep knowledge in the development of embedded software solutions and services to enable diverse applications across industry segments. The company owns its own product IP frameworks focused on connectivity and offers a highly automated connectivity lab-as-a-service, currently sold to some major clients. Terms of the acquisition were not disclosed.

Trumpf – C-Labs

In August, German industrial giant Trumpf announced it had acquired Bellevue, Wash.-based IoT software company C-Labs.

Trumpf, which makes manufacturing products like 3D printers and laser cutters, has honed in on industrial IoT as a focus over the past year. C-Labs, meanwhile, touts software that allows customers to monitor the manufacturing production line through remote sensors – all while working within security frameworks. Terms of the acquisition were not revealed.

Prodea Systems – Arrayent

Cloud services firm Prodea systems announced in July that it has acquired Arrayent for its IoT services platform. The Richardson, Texas company said it would create IoT services to collect data from sensors for enterprise applications.

Meanwhile, Arrayent, a Redwood City, Calif.-based company, manages connected consumer products – including lighting, home access systems, HVAC systems and major appliances. The two companies will combine their services to offer an end to end solution for customers for vertical markets that need predictive analytics. Terms of the acquisition were not disclosed.

Altair – Carriots

Altair, a software provider for computer aided engineering (CAE), in July announced it acquired a Madrid-based IoT platform developer, Carriots. Carriots touts its platform-as-a-service as giving customers the ability to develop a proof-of-concept for their IoT applications, and then scale their devices for vertical applications.

Altair said that by combining Carriots with its other CAE offerings, it will be able to provide a full product lifecycle management software lineup for designing and managing IoT applications. Terms of the acquisition were not revealed.

’As connectivity and intelligence become part of almost everything with which we interact, performance optimization has evolved to be a continuous process throughout a product’s lifecycle,’ said Altair founder and CEO James Scapa in a statement.