The 10 Coolest Industrial IoT Companies: The 2023 Internet Of Things 50

As part of CRN’s 2023 Internet of Things 50 list, here are 10 hot IIoT companies this year that are driving innovation.

When it comes to industrial IoT, consulting firm Bain & Company reported in the fall that the low-hanging fruit of industrial IoT has been harvested.

The vendors making a difference in industrial IoT need to focus on interoperability, integrated IT and operational technology, technical expertise in artificial intelligence algorithms and data science.

The Bain industrial IoT report included survey results that showed the number of organizations implementing proofs of concept grew 20 percent from 2018 to 2022. The number is expected to grow another 20 percent by 2026, and survey respondents reported cost reductions and revenue increases of up to 40 percent.

As part of CRN’s 2023 Internet of Things 50 list, here are 10 hot IIoT companies this year that are driving innovation.

Clarity Movement

David Lu, Co-­founder, CEO

Clarity’s brand of air quality monitoring tools led the company to a $9.6 million Series A+ round of funding last year. The Berkeley, Calif.- based vendor offers sensing-as-a-service, which includes air quality monitoring hardware and a data dashboard and does not require separate software purchases or add-on warranties. Clarity includes resellers, distributors and other business types in its partner program.

Envision Digital

Lei Zhang, CEO

Part of Envision Group, Envision Digital promises an AI-enhanced energy operating system with a single interface for managing global energy assets. Founded in 2017, Singapore-based Envision secured a $210 million Series A round of funding last summer. It went on to acquire renewables asset performance management company QOS Energy to boost its offerings. Resellers, service providers, systems integrators and consultants are included in Envision’s partner program.

Hitachi Vantara

Gajen Kandiah, CEO

Gartner’s Visionary ranking for Hitachi Vantara in industrial IoT comes from the data tools vendor’s recent innovations in the space. Last year, the Santa Clara, Calif.-based vendor unveiled an improved data catalog, more data integration and other data operations (DataOps) capabilities for its Lumada platform. It also launched image-based inspections, intelligent infrastructure monitoring, vegetation management and other inspection insight for the Lumada platform. About 82 percent of Hitachi Vantara’s overall sales come through the channel.

Invisible AI

Eric Danziger, Co­-founder, CEO

Invisible AI’s brand of no-code, edge-based artificial intelligence software for factories landed it a $15 million Series A round of funding in the fall. Founded in 2018, the Austin, Texas-based startup promises customers the ability to track body movement to improve manual assembly and provide real-time feedback for quality, safety and productivity. Invisible AI also inked a partnership with Toyota Motor North America to bring its computer vision platform to more users.

Johnson Controls

George Oliver, Chairman, CEO

Johnson Controls continues to build on its OpenBlue suite of connected services, including the addition of its Net Zero Adviser to track emissions and help with certification and compliance reporting. The Milwaukee, Wis.-based vendor joined with Accenture last year to roll out new OpenBlue Innovation Centers to accelerate building operation automation through IoT, digital twins and artificial intelligence.

Litmus Automation

Vatsal Shah, CEO

A $30 million Series B round of funding, projected growth of 150 percent for 2023 and a co-development deal with Google Cloud are just some of the ways Litmus Automation has risen in the IoT space. The Santa Clara, Calif.-based company offers an industrial edge data platform for device connectivity, data intelligence and data integration. Systems integrators, MSPs, resellers and other businesses are part of Litmus’ partner program.

PTC

Jim Heppelmann, CEO

Deemed a Challenger in industrial IoT by Gartner, Boston-based PTC started 2023 off by closing on its $1.46 billion ServiceMax acquisition. The deal promises to add more field service management capabilities to PTC and its IoT services for complex manufacturing. PTC has about 80 North American channel partners and 700 worldwide.

Samsara

Sanjit Biswas, Co-founder, CEO

Samsara offers a platform meant for managing equipment, vehicle fleets and work sites from a single pane. The San Francisco-based company released more than 150 product features, updates and upgrades in 2022, including redesigned incident alerts, more workflows for its driver task application and mobile use detection to improve safety. MSPs and other business types are part of Samsara’s partner program.

Schneider Electric

Jean­pascal Tricoire, Chairman, CEO

An extended reality operator adviser, integrated cybersecurity services and more energy efficiency and asset management capabilities are some ways Schneider Electric has boosted its EcoStruxure Power IoT-enabled architecture and platform. The Paris, France-based vendor also released the EcoStruxure Transformer Expert for extending transformer lifetimes and increased monitoring. About 95 percent of Schneider’s overall sales come through the channel. It has about 15,000 North American channel partners and about 100,000 worldwide.

Siemens

Roland Busch, President, CEO

Siemens launched its Xcelerator open digital business platform last year, introducing a curated portfolio of IoT hardware, software and digital services. The Munich, Germany-based vendor has continued to iterate on the platform, with the introduction this year to Xcelerator of the Connect Box IoT product for managing small and midsize buildings. Gartner considers Siemens a Visionary in industrial IoT. Siemens has about 160 North American channel partners and about 1,800 worldwide.