IT systems continue to expand beyond the walls of the data center with Internet of Things and edge computing devices playing an increasingly important role in distributed computing and remote data collection and processing. As part of CRN’s Stellar Startups for 2025, here are four IoT startups, founded in 2019 or later, that solution providers should be aware of.
Thinking Outside Of The (Data Center) Box
IT systems are increasingly moving beyond the periphery of traditional data centers as edge computing and Internet of Things devices collect data – everything from sensor data in agriculture to operational data from factory floors – and even perform remote data processing, compute and analysis tasks.
But while IoT and Edge devices offer many benefits in distributed computing, they also create challenges in terms of increased network traffic, cybersecurity vulnerabilities and more.
As part of CRN’s Stellar Startups for 2025, here are four IoT startups, founded in 2019 or later, that solution providers should be aware of. The following slides include lightly edited company and product descriptions provided by the startups.
Blues
Founded: 2019
Top Executive: Ian Small, CEO
Blues is a leader in secure wireless connectivity, helping organizations transform their physical products and businesses to be centered on data and the delivery of data-fueled intelligent services. With Blues, customers can easily and securely provision and communicate with any physical product, anywhere, enabling new sources of revenue and new customer experiences while also reducing costs.
Website: https://blues.com/
Butlr
Founded: 2019
Top Executive: Honghao Deng
Butlr is an MIT Media Lab spinout that fuses artificial intelligence with body heat sensing technology. Using thermal insights, Butlr technology understands subtle human movements in a building accurately discerning activity, occupancy, indoor location and body posture, yet ensures privacy and anonymity.
Butlr Heatic sensors come in both wireless and wired options to provide anonymous insights into how humans use commercial buildings. They understand foot traffic, occupancy and space utilization. In senior care, Butlr sensors result in faster emergency response, earlier interventions and better staffing models based on resident needs.
Website: https://www.butlr.com
Graphiant
Founded: 2020
Top Executive: Ali Shaikh, CEO
Graphiant develops a private, next-generation Network-as-a-Service offering for AI, cloud, SaaS, B2B and branch networking. The company’s Graphiant Network Edge service provides secure connectivity between the enterprise, WAN, hybrid cloud, network edge systems, customers and partners.
Earlier this month Graphiant launched its Gina AI operational assistant, built into the Graphiant service, to help drive policy enforcement, observability and compliance reporting.
Website: https://www.graphiant.com/
Viam
Founded: 2020
Top Executive: Eliot Horowitz, CEO and Founder
Viam’s engineering platform for data, AI and automation allows hardware and software engineers to collaborate and build technology solutions that can be implemented across devices and smart machines in the physical world.
Website: https://www.viam.com/
