The “Internet of Things” (IoT) category is starting to mature in terms of startup investments, according to a new report from Silicon Valley venture capital firm Wing.
More money into fewer companies, with an emphasis on automotive and health tech. Investment in security-related IoT startups remains lacking.
Wing identified 760 deals in 2016, down from 829 the prior year. Yet total dollars invested continue to grow ($6.2 billion in 2016), suggesting that dollars started to concentrate into a pool of more established startups that were raising bigger rounds.
While most subcategories saw a decline in number of deals, two continued to grow and even exceeded Wing’s forecasts—automotive and health tech.
Security startups focused on IoT devices and networks continue to see much less investment activity than the security category at large — just 47 out of a total of 1,432 since 2013. This, of course, means that there’s a massive opportunity for entrepreneurs in that area, said Giles.
