Apkudo, a platform for managing connected devices, raises $37.5M
Summary
Apkudo, a Baltimore-based startup developing a platform to help manage, sell and test connected devices like smartphones and laptops, today announced that it raised $37.5 million in a Series C funding round co-led by Closed Loop Partners Leadership Fund and Piper Sandler Merchant Banking with participation from MissionOG, Harbert Growth, Grotech Ventures, Lavrock Ventures and Point Field Partners. Our customers are also asking us to expand with them beyond mobility and into compute while also working together in Europe, Asia and the Middle East.Matthews, an embedded operating systems engineer by training, started Apkudo in 2011 with Ben Leslie, who he met while a student at the University of New South Wales in Australia. The two sought to build a service that companies could used to figure out supply chain logistics for devices like smartphones, tablets, laptops and wearables, with the goal of maximizing the value from those devices resale, repair and reuse.Martin Aares, head of asset management at Closed Loop Partners, emphasized the sustainability piece of Apkudos mission, pointing out that less than 20% of electronics are collected, refurbished or recycled worldwide translating to an estimated $50 billion in lost value each year. Increasing their useful life and keeping these valuable materials in circulation, and out of landfills and the environment, is a critical part of accelerating the circular economy.Through Apkudo, companies like mobile carriers can build device trade-in experiences for customers. But it can also perform testing, whether in-lab or in the field.According to Matthews, Apkudo uses AI across a range of tasks, like predicting which retail stores, shipping hubs and distribution centers have the highest probability of lost or stolen devices.