IoT company OptConnect Expands into Europe with Capestone Acquisition

• IoT device and solutions company OptConnect has been providing connectivity for products used in North and South America, while Capestone similarly serves Europe
• The acquisition is part of a strategy to offer more global products that can be used anywhere in the world.

Wireless services company OptConnect acquired Netherlands-based Capestone early this month, expanding its IoT influence into Europe. OptConnect offers a Connectivity-as-a-Sevice- (CaaS), based IoT solution for connected products, digital signage, EV charging and asset tracking. Similarly, Capestone is a 4G and 5G IoT solutions provider based in Leiden, Netherlands.

The acquisition is part of an expansion effort by Utah-based OptConnect, who earlier this year acquired M2M DataGlobal, a company which serves IoT solutions throughout the Latin America market. Additionally, OptConnect bought Silicon Valley company Premier Wireless Solutions in November 2021.

Following the latest acquisition, OptConnect forecasts that it will be offering a universal IoT router product with cellular connectivity that could be used in both Europe and the Americas next year.

Serving IoT Solutions in Maritime, Access Control

OptConnect has been providing telemetry and connectivity since 2009, starting in the ATM industry and expanding to retail applications and beyond. The recent acquisition of Capestone allows the further expansion into new markets including maritime, access control and other connected products amongst others.

The company has been experiencing record-setting customer growth in recent months, said Chris Baird, OptConnect CEO. After the M2M acquisition brought Latin America-based business to OptConnect, the company began looking to Europe as well.

Most recently the company has been making connectivity technology and software for its customers who sell connected solutions or needed to introduce IoT connectivity to their existing products. Some of these customers were selling products in Europe.

Finding a Compatible Company in Europe

In fact, many device manufacturers are seeking more global support. “We have customers pushing to Europe,” Baird said, so the company began looking at partnerships, and then acquisitions in Europe that would enable them to offer products that could connect in Europe, North and South Americas.

“We talked to dozens of providers,” he said, but they found the company that had the best synergy was Capestone as its location as well as its business model, culture and people made it a good fit. Capestone offers IoT connectivity for companies in healthcare, transportation, maritime, construction, industrial IoT, retail and surveillance.

Like OptConnect, Capestone has been expanding not only in the number of customers it serves, but geographically into numerous nations in the EU.

Accelerating IoT Growth

With the acquisition, Baird said, “we can support our existing customers going to Europe,” but now can have a physical presence in Europe to access that market with Capestone.

Baird pointed out that Capestone was already on its own successful trajectory in the continent, and it will continue to operate under the umbrella of OptConnect. Capestone’s managing director Jos Ouwerkerk will remain with the company as well.

Baird sees an economy of scale that can help accelerate Capestone’s technology strategy as well as its own. Together, said Baird, “we will heavily collaborate, we will find areas where we see synergies and we’ll bring those together.”

New Universal Products in the Works

The companies are already developing a global OptConnect branded product that Capestone will distribute for products that need to leverage IoT connectivity in numerous parts of the world.

And in the long run, Baird said “we’re going to make variants of all of the products [from both companies] that work from a global perspective.”

Both tech firms will benefit from group purchasing of products in larger volume, for their gateways and router devices. In fact, said Baird, the company has created what it calls its central distribution premise known as “A Rising Tide Lifts All Boats” (ARTLAB).

Single Pane of Glass

Baird expects existing customers to benefit from the ability to expand their own IoT based products across the continents, while new customers will be able to launch IoT enabled systems that are more globally supported as well.

“While our systems today are separate, our systems of the future are going to be integrated to a degree that it allows our customers to still get a seamless experience but through the proverbial single pane of glass,” he said.

Some of OptConnect’s enterprise customers are deploying 10s of thousands of connected devices across the world. “So the benefit is they don’t have to go look outside of OptConnect for international growth— the goal has been to keep the customers in house despite their growth strategies,” said Baird.

More Acquisitions Ahead

This is not the end of what the company calls its inorganic growth plans—“in fact it may only be the end of the beginning. We’re just getting started,” said Baird.

He equates the company’s growth with the construction of a sky scraper. “We have a solid foundation, we’ve done the work, we’re on bedrock,” he said, and with the acquisitions “we’ve been building and we’re just now starting to add layers, story after story. We’re above ground no doubt about it.”

Baird forecasts outsourced IoT technology use to grow across business markets, but especially to expand in utility management, water and environmental monitoring, and systems that rely on private LTE, away from the public 5G systems, to improve reliability.

Additionally, he envisions IoT growth in industrial settings such as manufacturing. “I don’t think we should underestimate the impact that better or smarter produced goods could have for a consumer.”

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