France-based internet of things company Actility has raised a $25m round backed by telecommunications companies KPN, Orange and Swisscom as well as contract manufacturer Foxconn.
The round was led by venture capital firm Ginko Ventures and also featured IdInvest Partners, which i backed by insurance conglomerate Allianz, media group Lagardère, and recruitment firm Up Group; Fonds Écotechnologies, which is managed by state-owned investment fund Bpifrance; and Truffle Capital.
Actility has developed a smart grid, dubbed ThingPark, based on low-power sensors that enable a range of applications such as remote home monitoring and control of appliances, energy management and smart parking metres.
The company will use the fresh funding to support a commercialisation of ThingPark, build out customer service, and ink more partnerships. Actility already has a partnership in place with Swisscom.
In 2012, Actility attracted an undisclosed amount of funding from Electranova Capital, a cleantech fund set up by utility company EDF.