According to a recent announcement, Plume Design, an Adaptive Wi-Fi developer, has secured $37.5 million funding from new investors, including Comcast Cable, Samsung Venture Investment Corporation, and Presidio Ventures, an affiliate of J:COM, Japan's largest cable operator.
Existing investors Liberty Global, Shaw Cable, and Jackson Square Ventures also participated in Plume's financing round, bringing the total equity funding in the company to more than $63 million. The cash infusion reportedly will be used to accelerate the deployment and integration of Adaptive Wi-Fi in Internet Service Provider (ISP) networks and third party hardware, introduction of new products, and for Plume's expansion in Silicon Valley and Europe.
“Delivering fast and reliable connectivity in every corner of the home with an intuitive user experience is a key initiative for operators,” said Tyson Marian, VP, Strategic Development, Comcast Cable and new Board Member at Plume. “We see Plume's cloud-based approach as a core ingredient of our own Xfinity xFi platform: secure, no-configuration and cost effective whole-home connectivity that can be offered and managed at scale.”
In December 2016, Plume launched a new solution suite, at the core of which is its Adaptive Wi-Fi product, which is designed to allow decisions on Wi-Fi channel, frequency, client connections, and whole-home coverage topology in real time and preemptively by the Plume Cloud. It also manages performance for multiple apartments in a Multi-Dwelling Unit environment, an important consideration for ISPs.
Comcast is working with Plume to combine the technologies of Plume and Comcast’s recently launched Xfinity xFi platform. Comcast said it’s working on a launch of no-configuration, adaptive xFi Pods that can be auto-paired with either the xFi Wireless Gateway or the xFi Advanced Gateway designed to improve throughput and consistency to individual devices and provide easier home Wi-Fi coverage.
“We are excited to be partnering with Plume,” said Chanwoo Park, VP, IoT Product Strategy, Mobile Communications Business, Samsung Electronics. “Samsung will actively collaborate with Plume to deploy advanced WiFi connectivity to our upcoming IoT devices.”
Edited by
Alicia Young