Sumitomo Invests in IoT Company ClearBlade

As Internet 4.0 advances, one of the most lucrative elements of it – IoT – has seen its star rise when it comes to investments. Manufacturing and energy companies, in particular, have seen what IoT sensors and the platforms that connect them can do for their organizations in terms of saving labor and money. Industry has gone past getting its feet wet in proof-of-concept ventures, and they are now ready for widespread adoption of IoT technology. For this reason, the investment dollars are beginning to flow harder and faster than ever before.

Most recently, global investment company Sumitomo Corporation of Americas (SCOA) put some money into Austin, Texas-based IoT technology company ClearBlade. SCOA's investment funds are expected to help the company expand its operations internationally and provide SCOA and affiliated companies' access to ClearBlade's software. As for future growth, the company sees significant opportunities in the transportation and energy sectors. Its recent launch on the Google Cloud Platform has brought substantial new SaaS business from around the world, specifically in the Asia Pacific region.

ClearBlade's IoT, Edge and AI software has been in use at some of the largest companies in North America, across industries such as transportation, energy, industrial products and manufacturing and the company is looking to expand its operations around the world.

"We are thrilled to announce our participation in ClearBlade's growth to provide efficient, scalable, IoT solutions across multiple industries," said Taketo Kokubo, Senior Vice President and General Manager, Media & Digital Business Group, Sumitomo Corporation of Americas.

The investment doesn’t come from out of the blue – SCOA and ClearBlade have been working together for a few years and now have a chance to build a deeper relationship to drive growth. The deal also fits with SCOA’s digital transformation investment strategy.

“ClearBlade has many innovative and strategic benefits over other IoT companies, and the ecosystem ClearBlade is creating will help bring their unique technology into several new markets," Kokubo added.