Ayla Networks, the leading Agile Internet of Things (IoT) Platform provider, announced that it has closed a USD $14.5 million Series B financing with new investments from Cisco; the International Finance Corporation, a member of the World Bank Group; Linear Venture; SAIF Partners, one of China's largest venture capital firms; and SJF Ventures. Existing investors Crosslink Capital and Voyager Capital also participated in the new funding round.

Ayla also unveiled plans to expand its business in China to enable manufacturers and others to deliver IoT products and services to businesses and consumers in that country.

'The Internet of Things is expanding at an increasing rate, and it is a global phenomenon,' said David Friedman, co-founder and CEO of Ayla Networks. 'Our customers have complex connectivity and data management challenges as they seek to sell products in any global market. Our mission is to seamlessly combine the right technologies so that manufacturers, service providers and others can build amazing products, ultimately implementing Agile IoT for greater customer value. We're very gratified with the support from our investors. This is only the start.'

'The Internet of Everything represents a huge opportunity to create value as things, data, processes, and people become connected,' said Rob Salvagno, vice president of Corporate Development at Cisco. 'Ayla impressed us with the architecture, flexibility, and scale of its IOT platform, enabling customers to quickly deliver connected products and to make meaningful decisions from their data.'

'Ayla has proven itself as a leader in the IoT market, winning some of the largest manufacturers with its innovative platform,' said Ben Ng, general partner at SAIF. 'The company has also established the right partnerships in China and adapted its platform to suit the Chinese market and help manufacturers create great consumer experiences.'

The Series B financing brings the total raised by Ayla to approximately $20 million and is the latest milestone in a significant year of growth for the company. Ayla publicly unveiled its technology and business in June 2013. Since then, the company has established partnerships and combined solutions with several of the world's leading chip and system suppliers to the Internet of Things, including Broadcom, Murata Americas, NXP, STMicroelectronics, and United Scientific Industrial Co. The company also has collected design wins with leading manufacturers of solutions for residential fire and safety monitoring, thermostats and broader HVAC control, water treatment and management, door locks, and home control.

An Agile IoT Platform
Ayla's mission is to provide the world with the first truly agile platform for the Internet of Things. The proliferation of technologies and standards is creating challenges for manufacturers hoping to enter the market. Ayla achieves its high degree of flexibility through a seamless fabric of interconnected elements, including embedded agents for devices, cloud-based back-end infrastructure and services, and intelligent application libraries.

By adopting Ayla's technology, companies can quickly design and develop connected products, often by slightly modifying existing product lines. Ayla's platform is compatible with the widest possible variety of communication standards and OSes, including Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, Zigbee, Linux, Android, iOS and others. Enterprise-class security is assured through multi-layer authentication, encryption, and policy control managed through Ayla's cloud services and advanced operational portals.

Built-in analytics enable real-time learning and a virtual device management system allows manufacturers to quickly react to this learning and modify their products -- even after they are deployed in the field. Enterprise-class features include multi-tiered role based access control, remote firmware update management and customer service visibility tools.

A China Cloud
Ayla will use part of the Series B funding to expand its services in China. China's highly mobile consumers will have new and exciting ways to interact with the things all around them. Initial applications include lighting control, door and window monitors, and indoor air-quality management. Last year, SINA, the largest Chinese language web portal in the world, adopted Ayla's cloud platform for consumer devices. Ayla anticipates that its success in China will be replicated in other emerging markets.

'Universal access to the internet will allow people in developing countries to reduce emissions, save power and seize new business opportunities by more effectively harnessing technology,' said Nikunj Jinsi, Global Head, IFC Venture Capital. 'Ayla's platform complements many companies we work with in China, and other emerging markets, that are innovating and changing consumer behavior for the long term improvement of peoples' lives.'

About Ayla Networks
Ayla Networks empowers manufacturers, service providers, and others to deliver great products for the Internet of Things. Headquartered in Sunnyvale, Calif., the company has developed the technology enabling Agile IoT for device makers to quickly and economically develop, support, and enhance smart connected solutions, end-to-end. Collaborating with leaders in electronics, embedded systems, industrial equipment, networking and consumer devices, Ayla is bringing the Internet of Things to the mainstream.