Dallas-Based IoT Startup Haxiot Acquired by Digi International

Dallas-based Haxiot, a provider of low power wide area (LPWA) wireless technology, has been acquired by leading Internet of Things company Digi International. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Haxiot was founded in 2015 to offer end-to-end LoRaWAN (Long Range Wide Area Network) solutions, which enables the transmission of small packages of device data across long distances. Its extensive product portfolio includes high performance client modules, intelligent industrial devices, gateways, and a scalable X-ON cloud IoT platform.

The founding power couple behind the local startup, Youyi and Nik Kitson, both worked for tech companies before becoming an entrepreneurial team. The Kitsons rolled out Haxiot’s first hardware when launching in 2015. The company then expanded to IoT software in early 2017.

Today Haxiot provides wireless, connected solutions for commercial and industrial customers.

The team touts its fully integrated systems, which are able to give a seamless deployment experience for small to large enterprise and network operators in industries like smart utilities, oil and gas, industrial, and supply chain.

Seeded in Dallas-Fort Worth

In 2018, the startup was raising a seed funding round led by Golden Seeds, a national angel investment group with a Dallas chapter that specializes in funding early-stage woman-owned-and-led companies. The round reportedly included several Texas investor groups. Cowtown Angels also invested in Haxiot in 2018, according to TechFW. At the time, Kitson told Dallas Innovates Haxiot was targeting a Series A round to allow the company to expand into vertical applications and machine learning for high-value customer analytics.

Haxiot first announced its X-ON platform that year to supply industrial IoT customers with edge computing capabilities for real-time process control. What sets the company’s technology apart, according to Youyi Kitson, is that it was the first device-to-cloud complete solution, compared to its competitors’ “software only” or “hardware only” products.

Haxiot offers a LoRaWAN platform, supporting the fast-growing wireless standard

LoRaWAN is one of the fastest-growing IoT wireless standards, Kitson previously told Dallas Innovates. “LoRaWAN provides more options for business models needing more coverage and extremely low power,” she said, making the standard “ideally suited for devices that require ultra-low system cost, massive numbers with low message rates.”

Haxiot’s complete LoRaWAN offering includes embedded modules, gateways, a network server solution, and SaaS offering.

In addition to its LoRaWAN products, Haxiot has industrial IoT capabilities that deliver edge intelligence, field deployment tools and rich data, and value-added services, according to a statement.

With the acquisition, Haxiot will be able to enhance Digi’s embedded systems portfolio and extend its market reach.

“Adding Haxiot’s LoRaWAN platform to our existing portfolio provides customers with a single-source for their embedded systems needs and the ability to get to market faster with the right technology for their applications,” Steve Ericson, general manager and VP of OEM Solutions for Digi International, said in a statement. “We look forward to joining forces with the Haxiot team and expand our business together.”

Minnesota-based Digi International is a leader in IoT connectivity products, services, and solutions. Founded in 1985, the company currently helps customers create next-gen connected products and deploy and manage critical communications infrastructures in demanding environments.

Included in Digi’s offerings is its Digi XBee ecosystem and Digi ConnectCore® system-on-modules. The company said this combination of products allows customers to have a broad set of offerings to choose from when creating full stack IoT applications.

According to both companies, the deal comes at a time when LoRa-based systems are booming. LoRa is predicted to move into the mainstream this year with significant market adoption and an around 40 percent compound annual growth rate over the next few years, according to Semtech, the organization that pioneered the underlying LoRa standard.

“As a seasoned industry leader with a strong track record of success, Digi provides the Haxiot team with the resources and bench strength to fuel further innovation,” Haxiot CEO Nik Kitson said in a statement. “We look forward to joining the Digi team and driving more success with current and future customers.”