Cisco has invested in Ayla Networks, a Internet of Things (IoT) Platform provider.
The investment of Cisco is part of a $14.5 million Series B financing.
Besides Cisco, International Finance Corporation, Linear Venture, SAIF Partners and SJF Ventures and existing investors Crosslink Capital and Voyager Capital also participated in the new funding round.
Ayla will expand its business in China to enable manufacturers and others to deliver IoT products and services to businesses and consumers in that country.
David Friedman, co-founder and CEO of Ayla Networks, said: “Our mission is to seamlessly combine the right technologies so that manufacturers, service providers and others can build amazing products, ultimately implementing Agile IoT for greater customer value.”
The Series B financing brings the total raised by Ayla to approximately $20 million.
Cisco announces $150 million fund
Meanwhile, Cisco Investments today announced it is allocating an additional $150 million over the next two to three years to fund early-stage companies.
The new funding allocation builds on Cisco Investments’ current $2 billion portfolio and is focused on big data and analytics; the Internet of Things (IoT); connected mobility; storage; silicon; the content technology ecosystem; and India innovation.
Cisco Investments has made three minority investments in IoT accelerators and startups Alchemist Accelerator, Ayla Networks and EVRYTHNG.
The new funding increases Cisco Investments’ thematic investing to $250 million total, adding to the previously announced $100 million commitment to startups focused on the emerging Internet of Everything (IoE) market opportunity.
