Ayla Networks Names VC and Former Tencent CTO Jeff Xiong to Board of Advisors

SUNNYVALE, CA and SHENZHEN, CHINA--(Marketwired - Nov 13, 2014) - Ayla Networks, a leading provider of Agile Internet of Things (IoT) platforms, today announced that Jeff Xiong, managing director at 7 Seas Venture, former chief technology officer at Tencent, who has also held prominent executive posts at Tencent ARM, Microsoft and other companies, has joined the company's Board of Advisors.

"Our goal is to create an ecosystem for the Internet of Things that will allow a broad spectrum of companies from around the world to develop connected devices for consumer and commercial markets," said David Friedman, CEO and co-founder of Ayla Networks. "Jeff's experience in launching product categories, forging partnerships and scaling companies that can compete on a global level will play an invaluable role as we continue to grow."

As a managing director at 7 Seas Venture, Xiong oversees the firm's investment in early stage cross-border technology startups. The firm invests in U.S. companies seeking to enter the Chinese market and/or leverage China's manufacturing base as well as Chinese companies interested in entering U.S. or European markets.

He also sits on the Advisory Board of ARM, the leading chip designer for mobile products.

Previously, Xiong served as CTO of Tencent, China's largest and most widely used Internet portal and the fifth largest Internet company in the world, as well as chairman of Aves Capital. He also served as a director and senior program manager at Microsoft and as a staff programmer at IBM.

"Ayla has quickly established itself at as a leader in IoT through technological elegance and a sophisticated business model that will enable the market to grow rapidly, and encourage cross-border innovations in IoT," said Xiong. "I look forward to working with the team to help fulfill their vision of an agile and global IoT ecosystem."

Ayla has created a comprehensive suite of services and technology that effectively provide companies everything they need to design and manage Internet-enabled products over their lifetime, including embedded software agents, data analysis, connectivity, security, product monitoring and cloud support.

By leveraging Ayla's capabilities, manufacturers can substantially reduce product development costs, increase security and accelerate time-to-market. Ayla also partners with leading contract manufacturers and electronics manufacturers like NXP Semiconductors, Broadcom, STMicroelectronics and Murata Manufacturing to streamline product development.

Customers include global producers of HVAC systems, leading fire and safety equipment vendors, SINA Corporation, as well as emerging innovators in IoT such as LockState, and Owlet. The company also recently announced being licensed as an Internet Content Provider (ICP) in China, and expanding the physical presence in Chinese manufacturing center Shenzhen, working with Chinese manufacturers like Yifang, and Devotion Boilers.

Ayla first unveiled plans to build a cloud for the Internet of Things in China in April as part of a $14.5 million Series B financing that included Cisco, the International Finance Corporation (a member of the World Bank Group), Linear Venture and SAIF Partners.

About Ayla Networks

Ayla Networks is bringing the Internet of Things to the mainstream. Headquartered in Sunnyvale, Calif., Ayla has developed technology enabling Agile IoT for manufacturers and service providers to quickly and economically develop, deploy, and learn from connected solutions for industrial markets, commercial customers and consumers. Ayla's investors include Cisco, the International Finance Corporation, SAIF Partners, Crosslink Capital, Voyager Capital, Linear Venture, and SJF Ventures. For more, please contacts us at www.aylanetworks.com