Particle, a company providing IoT hardware, software, and connectivity solutions bought Shenzhen and Hong Kong-based IoT hardware firm RedBear Labs, makers of RedBear Duo and a variety of other connectivity boards. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.
Buying RedBear marks Particle’s first acquisition. Particle has deployed IoT connectivity solutions in various industries from industrial and municipal IoT applications to manufacturing facilities. It implies the San Francisco-based company has focused on ‘enterprise market’ and entering the enterprise IoT market in China may prove to be a huge win for the company in coming years. And, what best way than to acquire a thriving local startup.
The company’s partnership goes back to Particle’s launch of three meshed devices, i.e. Argon, Boron, and Xenon as RedBear helped the company in product development of meshed devices for IoT connectivity.
RedBear started out by launching Particle-powered product, the RedBear Duo, a thumb-size development board for IoT projects on Kickstarter in November 2015. It got an overwhelming support from backers and delivered the product in the promised time of three months. Now the startup is set to contribute its hardware development experience to Particle’s Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) and Wi-Fi-enabled IoT hardware.
“Particle is committed to building the best team in the business to enable anyone to create IoT solutions that produce real value. The RedBear team impressed us with their track record of enabling IoT makers to bring their ideas to life in a third of the time and a tenth of the cost as in the past. This acquisition enables Particle to bring new products to market faster and scale to meet soaring demands for IoT connectivity, adding valuable expertise from the heart of the electronics industry in Shenzhen.”Zach Supalla, Particle co-founder, and CEO.
The enthusiasm of sharing a company already serving 8500+ clients in North America and elsewhere was evident from the statement by RedBear’s CEO.
“Particle and RedBear share the same laser focus on creating connected solutions that help product creators at any stage create value with IoT.” Chi-Hung Ma, CEO of RedBear and Particle Director of New Product Development.
It appears Particle will also benefit from RedBear’s existing network of customers and the reseller network the latter has developed in Asia, Europe, North- and South-America.
