An IoT startup focuses on devices connected to the internet which can be accessed remotely through the internet or a connected application. Research what is important to the end users to start and build a successful IoT. Leverage what is available to make the application easy to use. Then, create working prototypes, test, and build the application around the clear key purpose. Check out our full list of success stories.

SYRACUSE, NY – The GENIUS NY program, the largest unmanned systems accelerator in the world, is now opening its applications to include startups in big data (smart cities, cybersecurity) and internet of things (IoT) (smart devices, AI). GENIUS NY is CenterState CEO's in-residence business accelerator program at The Tech Garden in Central New York. The program invests $3 million in five early stage companies each year, while also providing incubator space, business programming, mentors and advisers, and resources. Now in its third year, it has already invested $9 million in 17 startups. Applications are open through Oct.1, 2019.

The most successful IoT startups selling into enterprises excel at orchestrating analytics, Artificial Intelligence (AI), and real-time monitoring to deliver exceptional customer experiences. As a group, these top 25 IoT startups are showing early potential at enabling profitable new business models, revitalizing industries that have experienced single single-digit growth recently. Each of these startups is taking a unique approach to solving some of the enterprises' most challenging problems, and in so doing creating valuable new patents that further fuel IoT adoption and growth. The top 25 startups are concentrating on how to make IoT a growth catalyst for enterprises by designing in AI integration at the platform level. McKinsey found that 27% of AI early adopters are more likely to report using AI to grow their market than companies only experimenting with or partially adopting AI. 52% are more likely to report using it to increase their market share.

Simply put, the Internet of Things (IoT) is the intersection of hardware, the internet and sensors with one another. European engineering tends to be in the spotlight within this industry, because of the tradition of top technical and engineering universities. The Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers (IEEE) says that about 30bn connected objects will constitute the worldwide IoT by 2020 – an estimated $7.1bn market – and European hardware and IoT startups hold the controls to one of the biggest revolutions mankind will witness heavily in the near future. From very innovative chips to sensors and drones to IoT "in the cloud", here are 10 promising IoT startups to watch in 2018 – a top mix of technology innovators from all corners of Europe. Smartfrog has developed a universal IoT platform designed to build dedicated solutions across product areas.

Nokia last week said that it was selling off its digital health business, after failing to develop it into a substantial business itself, but this week the Finnish company is announcing an acquisition that underscores how it is doubling down in another one of its business areas, the Internet of Things. Nokia has acquired SpaceTime Insight, a California-based IoT startup that provides predictive analytics based on machine learning algorithms. Terms of the deal are not being disclosed, Bhaskar Gorti, president of Nokia Software, said in an interview. The startup had raised between $50 million and $65 million in funding (based on figures from Crunchbase and PitchBook), and PitchBook last estimated its valuation at just over $103 million in 2016. Backers of the startup included the energy giant E.ON, Novus Energy Partners, Zouk Capital and more.

Internet of Things startups took in more than $1.35 billion from corporate and private investors during the latter half of 2017, for a total of about $2.2 billion in the full year. Chicago-based Uptake Technologies, an Industrial IoT startup, had the biggest haul of the year, with $117 million raised in a Series D round, on top of a $90 million Series C round earlier in 2017, bringing its total funding to more than $250 million. It strengthened its position as an IoT "unicorn," which is now valued at $2.3 billion. "We're on a growth trajectory now where there is virtually nothing standing in our way from being the predictive analytics market leader across every heavy industry, from oil & gas to mining and beyond," Uptake CEO Brad Keywell said in a statement. "The opportunity is too significant for us to not double down right now."

This article is part of Inc42's Startup Watchlist annual series where we list the top startups to watch for 2018 from industries like AI, IoT, Blockchain etc. Explore all the stories from'Startup Watchlist' series here. Once used as a tool for an application, Internet of Things (IoT) has become one of the widest ecosystems today. Currently at the centre stage of industries like energy management, healthcare, logistics, fintech, manufacturing and agritech, IoT, in convergence with AI, has the potential to disrupt all these verticals. Previously dictated by big players like IBM, Google, Intel, Cisco, Ericsson, Apple and Amazon, the IoT space has now become a startup ecosystem enabler across the world. While it was the Internet that drove the emergence of ecommerce startups in the early 2000s, IoT has been facilitating the growth of this decade's tech startups. What lightning does to mushrooms, IoT has done to startups!

Since the term Internet of Things, or IoT, was coined in 1999, the industry has had its share of hype, consternation, successes, and now even twitter parody accounts (@InternetOfShit). Although large-scale advertising campaigns for the IoT have become mainstream (seen any IBM Watson, Ring, or GE Digital ads lately?), recent news that GE had throttled growth expectations for its Predix IoT platform begs the following questions. What is the current state of Industrial IoT? Where are the areas of opportunity and what will emerge as winners? As an Entrepreneur in IoT for the last decade helping to find product/market fit for companies like Greenwave Systems and August Home, I believe there are significant opportunities in the Industrial IoT segment, a less visible, but a significantly larger compliment to Consumer IoT.

Venture Scanner is your analyst and technology-powered startup research firm Want to learn more about our IoT report? Click here or contact info@venturescanner.com to learn more Total Funding Companies that enable M2M communication in the automotive industry, such as auto health sensors and driving habit review software IoT Components 88 Startups, $1.8B Total Funding Companies that manufacture the internal technologies of IoT hardware systems, such as IoT circuit boards and semiconductors IoT Education and Toys 55 Startups, $571M Total Funding Companies that facilitate the education process, such as app-connected toys, programmable bracelets, and computer building kits IoT Fitness 158 Startups, $4B Total Funding Companies that that track fitness and exercise metrics, such as eating trackers, exercise tracking wristbands, and smartphone-controlled shoes Click here or contact info@venturescanner.com to learn more

Is the Internet of Things the world's most confusing tech trend? On the one hand, we're told it's going to be epic, and soon – all predictions are either in tens of billions (of connected devices) and trillions (of dollars of economic value to be created). On the other hand, the dominant feeling expressed by end users (including at this year's CES show, arguably the bellwether of the industry) is essentially "meh" – right now the IoT feels like an avalanche of new connected products, many of which seem to solve trivial, "first world" problems: expensive gadgets that resolutely fall in the "nice to have" category, rather than "must have". And, for all the talk about a mega tech trend, things seem to be moving at the speed of molasses, with little discernible progress year on year. Part of the problem is perhaps one of semantics. While gadgets are indeed part of the category (and quite often very large markets onto themselves), the Internet of Things (which we define as any "connected hardware" other than desktops, laptops and smartphones) is a much broader, and deeper, trend that cuts across both the consumer, enterprise and industrial spaces.