IoT Company Smartfrog Raises Another 20 Million Euros In Funding
Smartfrog is one of the hottest IoT company around and it is in the news once again for having raised a further 20 million Euros in funding. For a company that is less than a year old, the rate at which it has been raising money is very impressive.
The main product that the company offers right now is a security cam with some amount of cloud storage built in. For most customers, buying the Smartfrog camera with the last four hours of footage available on the cloud is a huge advantage since the included alerts should bring any event or break-in to their notice within that time period.
For customers that require more storage, Smartfrog offers premium cloud storage services that keep the video on the cloud for much longer.
Even though the Smartforg camera is pretty neat looking and easy to setup, it is still nothing out of the ordinary from what other companies are offering. Nest is one such company that springs to mind and could be considered as a direct competitor to Smartfrog. So why are investors flocking to this company?
It could be because of the fact that the company already has customers in over 130 countries and has just doubled its staff to meet the growing demand. It could also be because of the subscription model that it is offering in tie-ups with massive retailers like Amazon which make the cost of ownership quite low.
Through the subscription model, prospective customers can avail of the hardware and premium cloud storage for a relatively low monthly fee and no long-term commitment. It is the model that most of the industry believes is the way forward for IoT companies as they evolve from being companies that sell products to those that offer services.
Smartfrog is also offering a basic service to some users for free where it converts an old phone or laptop with a camera into a security camera. This is designed to get customers used to their services and gain a foothold in markets where it has not launched its hardware yet.
The company seems to have a very clear idea about where it is going and hopes to use the security camera as the beginning of a complete smart home transformation. Executives at the company are also aware that while there is a lot of buzz and hype around the Internet of Things, it is still very much in the nascent space and so companies have to educate the customers about their offerings and fight for growth.
This is one of the reasons why the company has adopted the route of taking on strategic investors that bring with them a level of expertise along with the much-needed cash infusion.
By spreading itself so widely and making itself familiar to a large number of customers, Smartfrog is creating a brand to be reckoned within the IoT space, especially for a company that is just about a year old. The future could be very bright for Smartfrog.
