Monogoto raises $11 million for cellular IoT connectivity platform

Israeli startup Monogoto, which has developed a global cloud-based cellular network, announced on Wednesday that it has closed an $11 million funding round led by Team8, with participation from Telefonica Tech Ventures and Singtel Innov8, as well as Alter Venture Partners, Triventures, and Planven Entrepreneur Ventures.

Monogoto provides global, internet of things (IoT) and machine-to-machine (M2M) connectivity using APIs that enable enterprises and developers to design, build, manage, control, and scale their IoT applications quickly and securely. According to the company, enterprises use its platform to connect and control cellular-based sensors and devices, such as point of sales, ATMs, wearables, smart lights, fleets of cars and packages, and leverage its APIs to provide enhanced flexibility and capabilities like cybersecurity, procurement, and IT management.

“The cloud revolution and communications (voice calls/SMS) revolution demonstrated that infrastructure accessible via APIs can be extensively leveraged to innovate products, optimize solutions and offer new business models. A similar revolution is happening in connectivity,” said Itamar Kunik, Monogoto co-founder and CEO. “To realize the full benefits of this revolution and drive new product and business model innovation, enterprises need much more than high-quality connectivity - they need to be able to control every aspect of that connectivity in order to enable new use cases, such as battery-optimized sensors, changing quality-of-services on demand, bridging the gap between public and private cellular networks, embedding cybersecurity from the infrastructure, and much more. Capabilities that our customers are already implementing using our APIs.”

The funding will be used to expand Monogoto’s presence in the U.S. with a San Francisco-based office, grow its product sales and bolster brand awareness. It will also be used to enrich B2D assets with more APIs, documentation, and developer tools; extend its global points of presence (POP), and expedite and strengthen the network’s 5G infrastructure.

The company said it already has more than 100 customers worldwide in various scaling stages, including Sodaq, Connected You, Origin GPS, and Tvilight. Monogoto’s complete cellular connectivity solution serves a broad range of IoT use cases, including industry 4.0, smart cities, wearables, agriculture, energy, automotive, telematics, transportation, and healthcare.

“Enterprises and developers are hungry for a cloud-native experience that leverages the power of cellular connectivity, using APIs that are centrally managed, self-served, and completely secure,” said Liran Grinberg, Team8 co-founder and managing partner. “With full inspection of network traffic and secure computing capability at the edge, all accessible via APIs, Monogoto is able to provide advanced visibility and security controls out-of-the-box, while integrating with the enterprise’s security controls.”