CloudOne raises $9M to fuel growth in ‘Internet of things’

Fishers-based CloudOne recently raised $9 million from new and existing investors to help accelerate its growth in the so-called "Internet of things" space.

Hercules Technology Growth Capital of Palo Alto, Calif., provided more than half the funding, CEO John McDonald told IBJ on Friday, and previous investors including Indianapolis-based Elevate Ventures also participated in the round. The new funding brings the 6-year-old company's total to $21.9 million.

CloudOne is a software-as-a-service firm that helps companies such as engine-maker Cummins Inc. and medical device-maker Johnson & Johnson Inc. manage Internet-connected products. McDonald said the fresh cash infusion would be used in part on hiring sales and support employees, as well as technical engineers.

"The opportunity is enormous in the IOT space," McDonald said, "very much so in Indiana and the Midwest because of the concentration of manufacturing companies that are furiously working to add capabilities to their products to leverage the Internet of things."

CloudOne generated $12 million in revenue last year, McDonald said, roughly double its income in 2014. That marked the fourth straight year that revenues have grown by at least 100 percent. In 2015, IBJ named it among the 25 fastest-growing companies in central Indiana.

The company expects to rake in $18 million in 2016.

Headcount also has swelled at the company, which last fall moved its headquarters from Indianapolis to Fishers. The company has about 50 employees now, up from about 27 this time last year.

CloudOne has about 100 clients, including firms in the automotive, retail, and consumer goods sectors. Its software dashboard helps Cummins manage analytics that its diesel engines self-report, for instance, and the subscription revenue that CloudOne draws from its software accounts for 90 percent of its total revenues.

"Many IOT companies have a software component or chip that they sell to companies to embed in their products, which is fine," McDonald said. "But our business model is taking those components and integrating them into a platform."