PRESS RELEASE:
Globetouch, a leader in global connectivity services and Internet of Things (IoT) platforms for the connected vehicle and the IoT market, is raising $40 million in Series C funding. The company has announced that it has secured a large part of the funding round already, with new investors Hermes Growth Partners, Spark Telecom Ventures and Wholesale and Impact Venture Capital. The existing shareholders joining this round include Verizon Ventures and Zeev Ventures. These investors join the leading mobile operators like CK Hutchison Holdings Ltd, NTT DoCoMo and Digicel.
Gartner forecasts a market of 250 million connected cars on the road by 2020. Much of that growth will be new data services and new offerings, rather than the traditional “bended metal and rubber” of the car itself. Consulting firm McKinsey estimates that connected car data, and the new business models that emerge out of it, could be worth $1.5 trillion a year by 2030.
This investment round willallow Globetouch toenhance its services and market share of the growing connected car market. The company plans to extend the ecosystem of manufacturers, OEMs, consumer service providers and fleet owners for partnering and exchanging the services and products used during the lifecycle of a connected vehicle. The funding will also aid in Globetouch’s growing push into other verticals, including logistics, industrial IoT, and healthcare.
In addition to growing investments, Globetouch has recently been recognized by Gartner in the 2017 Magic Quadrant for Managed Machine to Machine (M2M) Services, Worldwide, ranking the company amongst the top M2M service providers globally. In the Magic Quadrant survey, Gartner recommends Globetouch for connectivity services for telematics, cross-industry asset monitoring and fleet management in North America, Europe and across Asia/Pacific.
Riccardo Di Blasio, CEO of Globetouch Inc., commented: “We consider our landing and positioning in the Gartner Magic Quadrant for M2M services after just four years of operations as a validation of the importance of the connectivity infrastructure that we have built. With the added backing from an impressive roster of investors, we are realizing our mission to enable the connected car with applications that enrich the transportation experience beyond imaginable limits.”
Bobby Yerramilli-Rao, Co-Founder and Partner at Hermes Growth Partners, added: “Hermes Growth Partners is proud to be part of the new investor group in Globetouch. The one part of the IoT sector that is actually here and now is the connected car, with several million vehicles on the road today and rapid growth expected for years to come. Globetouch’s complete suite of solutions helps cars manufacturers everywhere solve a real world problem in an efficient and cost-effective way.”
Eric Ball, General Partner at Impact Ventures, said: “Globetouch is building the I in IoT, with a board and management team we would expect to see at a Fortune 100 company. It represents an excellent example of a disruptive force in the telecom space and other sectors that Impact invests in. Globetouch has a strong trajectory and at this rate the current funding round will only further its growth in the market.”
Built on an ecosystem of mobile operator networks, Globetouch offers seamless connectivity through enabling infrastructure and mobile operator ecosystem. The company provides global cellular connectivity for the realization of IoT and M2M services with 400+ network operations in over 180 countries through one connection serving multiple vertical markets, including automotive, heavy industry and IT manufacturers. Having recently announced a partnership with General Motors’ OnStar for the expansion of the connected car service outside of the U.S., Globetouch also previously acquired Teramatrix Technologies, which develops an IoT sensor data analytics platform.