Incubation program fosters innovation
The Cisco Entrepreneurs in Residence program added six new startups on Jan. 22, with an eye on developing the next big thing in the “Internet of Things” space, big data analytics and smart cities technology.
The six new firms added to the cohort are: Measurence, a retail analytics firm; Parstream, which specializes in large-scale IoT analytics; PLAT.ONE, an IoT and M2M cloud application platform; Preferred Networks, which puts machine-learning technology into devices and network hardware; Embeddor Technologies, a wireless infrastructure sensor developer; and Korlist, which joins legacy with digital technology for smart cities.
The Cisco Entrepreneurs in Residence program is a six-month incubator in which Cisco brass put competing startups through a selection process that evaluates business plans and alignment with company focus, among other factors, then pairs emerging companies with venture capitalists, provides co-working space, access to software and mentoring.
Managing director of Cisco Entrepreneurs in Residence Tom Yoritaka said the program gives the company “a stronger presence in the early-stage startup community.”
“We heard from many early-stage startups that accelerating their product development and growing their business can be difficult,” he said. “They were eager to forge partnerships with Cisco. Cisco Entrepreneurs in Residence opens new opportunities for startups and Cisco.”
Former cohort member Prakash Baskaran, CEO of Pawaa Software, said the program “allowed us to closely collaborate with Cisco teams in a way that would have been impossible as an early-stage company.
Pawaa provides an innovative technology platform that persistently secures and encrypts files and documents across the enterprise, on mobile devices and in the cloud,” he said. “Working with Cisco has helped us refine our go-to-market strategy and identify enterprise security opportunities.”
Cisco Entrepreneurs in Residence operate out of co-working space in San Jose, San Francisco, Fresno and San Diego, Calif., as well as Chicago, and Vienna and Wien in Austria.
