Resin.io, a startup with headquarters in Seattle and employees scattered across the globe, has raised a $9 million funding round to further its work on tools for software development and deployment for connected devices.
The company’s prior backer, DFJ, invested in the round, along with GE Ventures, Ericsson, and Aspect Ventures. Resin, founded in 2013, previously raised a $3 million seed round.
Resin is tackling the challenge of creating and updating software for the billions of Internet of Things (IoT) devices proliferating in the world today. It is modeling its business in part on the rapid, automated delivery of software and infrastructure changes grouped under the DevOps movement, which companies such as Seattle-based Chef are helping lead.
But updating IoT devices brings a unique set of challenges, such as weak or intermittent network connections; limited computing capabilities; and the need to understand and protect each individual device, in its context. You don’t want to start a software update on a drone at the wrong time.
“If you’re a server and you’re getting torn down, that’s fine,” Resin founder and CEO Alexandros Marinos told Xconomy when we profiled the company in December. “If you are a drone and you’re flying, not as fine.”
With the new funding, Resin will focus on growing its product—based on a version of open-source application deployment platform Docker, among other technologies—and an open source community to support it. It will also be looking for new strategic partnerships, which new investors GE Ventures and Ericsson could facilitate.
“Advancing the Industrial Internet requires the ability to deploy and manage software in remote environments,” Sam Cates, director at GE Ventures, says in Resin’s news release. “Resin.io is uniquely positioned to bring the speed and safety of DevOps to the Industrial Internet and we are excited to help them do so.”
