Seattle-based startup Esper recently raised $30M to grow their DevOps platform for IoT device fleets. This platform helps manage the fleets of connected devices and makes it easier for developers to ship and maintain their IoT device applications. Developed by a team of experienced DevOps engineers, Esper’s platform simplifies IoT device development, allowing companies to quickly and reliably deploy, manage, and monitor their IoT device fleets. With the help of their platform, companies can easily take control of their IoT device fleets and create powerful applications.
In this article, we will be discussing how Esper’s platform helps manage IoT device fleets:
Seattle startup Esper raises $30M to grow DevOps platform for IoT device fleets
Founded in Seattle in 2017, Esper is an enterprise-grade platform that manages Internet of Things (IoT) device fleets. As an industry-leading technology, Esper’s rollout has enabled companies of all sizes to gain visibility into their hardware regardless of size or complexity.
The company’s platform allows users to more easily monitor, manage and control their fleets by taking the appropriate IoT device data from them and making it contextual from the customer’s point of view. In addition, the proprietary software solution enables customers to have visibility into IoT device deployments, resulting in better operational decisions based on accurate real-time data insights about each connected device’s environment and activity.
Esper also puts customers in control with features that allow them to make changes remotely and configure devices at deployment through individual or fleet configurations. In addition, the company provides companies with intelligence tools that enrich user experience, provide increased security policies and standards, enhanced performance monitoring across devices managed by Esper’s Platform, and cost savings benefits over manual operations or alternative processes.
Esper is a comprehensive solution trusted by various enterprises across multiple industries such as industrial manufacturing, telecommunications, health care, retail and more.
Summary of Esper’s platform for IoT device fleets
Esper’s platform provides an end-to-end solution to help organisations manage their fleets of IoT devices. Its technologies enable businesses to monitor, configure, and update connected devices over-the-air (OTA), detect fledgling issues through insights gained from analytics, and use predictive intelligence to improve the performance of their entire global fleet.
The platform starts with OTA activation, which allows customers to securely onboard IoT devices onto their networks in a few easy steps. It also offers cloud infrastructure compatibility with major cloud providers, such as Amazon Web Services (AWS) and Microsoft Azure, and its own Esper Cloud for those requiring a fully managed solution with industry specific security protocols for mission critical applications.
Esper’s platform then gives companies full visibility into their device fleet with real time device monitoring and reporting features for large scale deployments and remote field service management capabilities for small scale deployments. In addition, it offers an extensive library of device drivers that reduce time spent on development focussing instead on customising the products using powerful configuration tools. This allows companies to quickly test products across multiple scenarios and deploy different versions rapidly.
Finally, the AI powered insight engine uses algorithms that detect anomalies in the behaviour of individuals or groups of devices. At the same time, the analytics module helps users derive meaning from datasets collected from their device fleets allowing them to quickly identify problems before they become significant impediments or risks. Additionally, the insight engine is used in conjunction with predictive maintenance plans which leverage predictive intelligence to reduce cost associated network disruptions or outages while optimising operations significantly and freeing up resources previously needed for field maintenance services while also preventing potential failures by proactively detecting potential risks earlier than ever before thereby allowing businesses reduce costs and optimise performance leading to better customer retention rates in addition passing certification exercises more easily than ever before due to reliable, secure operations.
Funding
Seattle startup Esper recently announced that it has raised $30 million in a Series B funding round, led by Amplify Partners. This funding will help Esper grow its DevOps platform, which helps manage fleets of IoT devices. The platform is designed to be easy to use and allows micro and small businesses to configure and deploy IoT devices quickly.
With this additional funding, Esper hopes to make its platform even more accessible to businesses as it expands its customer base.
Overview of $30M Series B funding for Esper
Esper—a global provider of intelligent wireless solutions for the Internet-of-Things (IoT)—recently announced their $30M Series B funding, including investments from Confluent, Sands Capital Partners and Accenture Ventures, to name a few. This brings Esper’s total equity investment to date to $43M.
This influx of capital shines a light on the company’s mission to provide a comprehensive platform for managing fleets of connected IoT devices worldwide.
The investment follows a series of significant steps that Esper has taken this year; from expanding its product portfolio with launch of an embedded wireless controller, signing up a network partner program and showcasing the integrated platform solution at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona.
With these developments, it is evident that Esper plays a critical role in creating reliable and secure infrastructure for connecting low power Bluetooth devices across multiple locations using cellular networks. In addition, the Series B funding indicates potential plans such as investments in technology updates, improved customer service and scaling operations internationally.
In addition to offering vast suite of products like Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE), Short-range Radio Frequency (RF), mobile device management services, Esper demonstrates its commitment towards IoT security with end-to-end encrypted communications between devices without relying on cloud connected hubs or costly base stations that can be unreliable due to network outages or data breaches.
Benefits Esper will gain from the funding
The influx of funding for Esper Enterprises means that our organisation can leverage numerous growth opportunities. The financial resources provided by this latest round of funding will allow us to pursue the following initiatives:
- Develop innovative products and services: This capital infusion allows us to invest in the research and development needed to introduce new products and services and upgrade existing ones.
- Strengthen our presence in targeted markets: An injection of funding permits us to expand operations into areas where we have been underrepresented, such as North America and Europe.
- Explore new revenue generation channels: With the right level of investment, we can better penetrate fast-growing markets by diversifying into other service areas or introducing specialised digital products that offer long-term client value.
- Enhance our current offerings: Equipping our platform with advanced features or introducing brand-new ones enhances client satisfaction and increases referral rates from the end user’s perspective.
- Invest in key personnel: The funds allow Esper Enterprises to recruit skilled personnel capable of achieving ambitious goals while maintaining optimal efficiency.
- Improve IT infrastructure: New financing permits developing an extensive IT operation that leads to establishing robust technical frameworks.
Platform Features
Esper is a Seattle based startup that has recently raised $30M to grow their DevOps platform for IoT device fleets. The platform offers users a powerful solution for managing, monitoring, provisioning and protecting their fleets of Internet of Things (IoT) devices. In addition, this platform includes a set of features and tools that makes it easier for companies to manage their connected devices and their associated data.
Let’s look at some of the features of the platform:
Overview of the DevOps platform
Esper DevOps platform is designed to help IoT and embedded device makers control their fleets and keep them up to date efficiently and effectively. With the Esper platform, users can:
- Define the device fleet through custom labels and integrations with existing fleets.
- Take remote control of their devices for over-the-air (OTA) updates to operating systems and device configurations.
- Configure software updates for local, secure installations of end products.
- Conduct performance monitoring of devices in production deployments from anywhere in real time.
- Control access rights & secure certify every phase of the development process using strict authentication chipsets.
- Allow users to instantly set up a staging environment that provides a safe testing space for experimenting with different release versions before pushing them out to the production line.
- Integrate with third party APIs so that new features can be added instantly while keeping everything up to date.
- Eliminate expensive physical infrastructure costs associated with traditional methods like shipping hardware to each new version’s release point or relying on manual installations by field engineers.
Benefits of the platform for customers
Esper’s platform provides customers multiple benefits as they strive to manage their collective fleets of IoT devices. With the right platform, customers can now easily scale their fleets to any size and securely manage devices, applications, and data access wherever they are.
The Esper platform gives customers powerful capabilities including:
- Remote Configuration: Customers can configure settings remotely and efficiently at scale via secure protocols such as OTA or bootloaders.
- Centralised Monitoring: They can monitor the health of their entire fleet in real-time from a single, unified view.
- High Performance Access: Remotely access live data streams for performance optimization using encrypted and compressed data packets for maximum throughput.
- Automated Updates: Automatically synchronise updates to scan, detect and install critical security patches faster without user intervention.
- Flexible Onboarding: Easily add new devices with an intuitive step by step onboarding process customised to specific customer needs.
Esper’s platform makes it easier and safer to manage IoT device deployments while providing support for all popular IoT frameworks including AWS IoT Core, Azure IoT Hub, Google Cloud IAM, SAML 2.0/OpenID providers etc.
Features of the platform
Esper’s comprehensive platform is designed to provide enterprise-grade solutions that help manage the complexities and costs of IoT device fleets. Esper provides a range of features designed to help customers unlock the most value from their devices and investments. These features provide customers with comprehensive control, monitoring, security, and analytics for their device fleets:
- Comprehensive Device Management: Esper provides centralised management of thousands of devices including a secure over-the-air (OTA) update system – an industry first – that simplifies device deployments and ensures they’re kept up-to-date with security patches.
- Powerful Insights: Esper enables real time insights into device performance and alerting when any action needs to be taken. Monitor performance trends over decades with end to end analytics capabilities that identify key metrics on application usage, throughput, stability and cost effectiveness.
- Advanced Security & Control: Our security lockbox protects customer data by governing access rights between application components including APIs & authorisation rules for who can view data or act on insights extracted from the edge.
- Comprehensive Integrations: We have pre-integrated with many cloud services such as Amazon Web Services (AWS), Microsoft Azure, IBM Watson, Google Cloud Platform (GCP), Elasticsearch etc., using industry standard protocols such as MQTT/Events. This allows customers to connect their edge devices without any custom development.
- Automated Application Creator & Debugger: The drag and drop application creation tool ensures businesses can create powerful edge applications in minutes without having any prior experience in coding or engineering complexity involved in IoT solutions. Customers can also use our debugging wizard which helps them quickly troubleshoot issues occurring within their applications at scale.
Market Position
Seattle startup Esper recently raised $30 million to further its DevOps platform, designed to help companies manage large fleets of IoT devices. Esper’s platform enables customers to monitor, secure, and deploy IoT device fleets at scale, making it an attractive platform for organisations with many connected devices.
With this new funding, Esper aims to expand their platform and grow its market position.
Overview of the IoT device fleet management market
IoT device fleets can comprise various interconnected devices – sensors, robots, vehicles, and other systems – that interact with each other and exchange data. Managing these devices and their data securely, reliably and effectively requires specialised tools for analysis, control, optimization and scalability. This is where the IoT device fleet management market comes in.
The IoT device fleet management solutions market is growing rapidly as manufacturers try to stay ahead of the competition. Solutions range from basic data collection and organisation tools, to more advanced analytics capabilities like predictive maintenance or energy efficiency optimization. Additionally, vendors may offer integration services or products to enable interoperability between different hardware or platforms.
There are several major players in this market offering a wide range of solutions including Esper Inc., Telit Communications Plc., Device Authority Ltd., Intrinsic ID BV., IBM Corporation , Eseye Ltd., Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd., Ubidots Inc., Astea International Inc., Particle Inc., ARM Limited , Arvento Mobility Systems Software Solutions Inc., Bosch Software Innovations GmbH and Freewave Technologies Inc,.
Esper’s platform helps manage connected device fleets through comprehensive data gathering and analysis capabilities by providing features such as:
- Device life cycle management with proactive security audits.
- Real-time analytics of usage patterns for insights into performance improvements.
- Optimization insight through deeper understanding of utilisation.
- Scalability options for one-to-many deployment/management.
- Fast deployment/integration mechanisms for quickly onboarding devices.
- Integrations with leading industry applications like AWS IoT Core, Azure IoT Hubs & Google Cloud Platform (GCP).
- Cost savings by helping customers avoid expensive over provisioned resources through automated scaling services where applicable.
- Automated compliance checks such as before OEM restrictions are applied.
- Software update automation service straight from the source code repository to ensure secure operations of the entire system at all times.
- Ground zero security enforcement right away after deployment.
- Provisioning assistance to get ahead with compliance certifications quickly .
- Adoption support via education & awareness campaigns on existing solutions.
Esper’s competitive advantage in the market
Esper’s platform provides a unique, highly-scalable approach to managing and monitoring the performance of large fleets of connected devices. This cloud-based platform enables users to provision, update and monitor their fleets of connected devices without requiring a dedicated hardware infrastructure.
Esper’s key market competitive advantages are scalability, flexibility, integration options and focus on security. Esper’s platform is designed to be highly scalable so it can handle hundreds or even thousands of devices simultaneously. It can also be customised to the specific needs of a particular user. In addition, Esper’s platform integrates with existing software platforms such as Amazon Web Services or Google Cloud Platform for enhanced usability and control.
Finally, security is a major focus for Esper as it offers an end-to-end secure connection for deploying new applications or updating existing ones simultaneously on all endpoints in the fleet. This allows businesses to increase their security posture while deploying new applications with confidence that their data will remain secure throughout this process.
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