Emerson, the St. Louis-based industrial technology and software company, announced Wednesday it has invested in a Connecticut-based device-authentication and data-protection business through its venture capital arm.
Emerson Ventures has invested in Symmera, an early-stage technology and software company. Symmera offers "scalable, highly available and secure" device fleet management through its Distributed Intelligent Network Orchestration Platform, according to a press release. The platform manages automated technological devices' lifecycles and security, particularly in terms of data streams for artificial intelligence, machine learning and advanced analytics, officials said.
Terms of the investment weren't disclosed. Colorado-based Boulder Ventures is also investing in Symmera alongside Emerson.
"Symmera aligns closely with many Emerson initiatives surrounding lifecycle management of devices and secure field communications," Thurston Cromwell, who leads Emerson Ventures and is Emerson's vice president of development and innovation, said in a statement. "The platform offers a unique, one-pane-of-glass approach for fleet management security and secure field communications that will have wide-ranging applications across essential industries."
Symmera's DIN Orchestration Platform helps protect automation systems from emerging cyber threats and its device identity and security management will address the growing need for enhanced security and operational efficiency, according to the release.
"Symmera is uniquely positioned to seize the industry's demand for secure, scalable IoT/IIoT [Internet of Things/Industrial Internet of Things] solutions by delivering trusted operations through the power of quantum-proof cryptography and streamlined device management," Srinivas Kumar, Symmera's CEO, said in a statement. "Given Emerson's leadership in intelligent industrial devices as well as its broad expertise in legacy and new protocols and field communication networks, we look forward to gaining hands-on experience to bolster our device authentication and protection capabilities in this increasingly complex digital landscape."
In 2021, Emerson said it planned to put $100 million into early stage companies in the next five years through Emerson Ventures. At the time, it said its investments would target startups and technologies in three major areas: discrete automation solutions, environmentally sustainable technologies and industrial software. In September 2023, Emerson Ventures invested an undisclosed amount in First Resonance, a Los Angeles-based startup that has developed software to help manufacturers manage and enhance operations.
For its fiscal third quarter ended June 30, Emerson reported net earnings available to common shareholders of $329 million on net sales of $4.4 billion. That compares with net earnings available to common shareholders of $9.4 billion on net sales of over $3.9 billion in the third quarter of fiscal 2023, which included an $8.7 billion gain from discontinued operations, mainly the divestiture of its majority interest in its Climate Technologies business.
Emerson is in the process of relocating from its headquarters in Ferguson to the newly built office tower now known as Emerson Tower at 8027 Forsyth Blvd. in downtown Clayton, which it hopes to occupy by December.
