Funding for IoT startups reached record high last year, survey finds

The average amount of investment in Internet of Things (IoT) ventures is at an all-time high in Europe and the highest it’s been in over a decade in the US, according to analysis from electronics distributor Avnet Abacus.

The firm analysed Crunchbase data for companies listed under the Internet of Things category to provide insight on the level of investment activity happening within the industry.

While there was a 22% drop in total funding within the sector in 2022, mirroring trends across venture capital markets, the average funding round for IoT startups was at its highest ever in Europe ($16.7m).

Globally, IoT companies that raised funds in 2022 pulled in $15.9m on average, up 30% from the previous year and the highest point figure in 19 years.

Matching the global trend, American startups in the sector also saw the highest average deal size in 19 years at $16.2m.

“Despite venture capital generally cooling off due to current economic conditions, the research reveals investor confidence is higher than ever for the long-term prospects of companies developing products in the IoT,” said Sara Ghaemi, Avnet Abacus’s technical director.

Acquisitions of companies in IoT worldwide were at their second highest ever in 2022 with 116 companies snapped up, marginally down from the peak of 117 companies in 2021. In the US, 48 IoT startups were purchased in 2022, down from an all-time high of 58 in 2021.

Avnet also said Europe fared even better than previous years with 41 acquisitions making 2022 the continent’s highest year ever for IoT exits.

Tim Bassford, IoT specialist at Avnet Abacus, added: “There is strong evidence pointing towards a future where we will have more and more connected devices, communicating wirelessly, and providing timely and relevant insights from these new sources of data. This provides great potential for companies to operate more efficiently and provide new value to customers, and as a result, the IoT will continue to grow.”

Click here to read TI’s predictions for IoT in 2023