The Tool Desk
Outbyte Driver Updater FREEScan for outdated or missing drivers - takes under a minuteDriver Scan →Outbyte PC Repair FREERepair Windows errors before they cause bigger problemsFix Now →Blues Wireless announced a $22 million Series A on July 12, 2021, led by Sequoia Capital and investor Lachy Groom. XYZ Venture Capital and returning investor Bill Gates also participated. The company said it would use the money to expand marketing, sales and operations and to develop its cellular-connectivity hardware and related cloud services. The figure describes that 2021 round, not Blues’s total or latest disclosed financing.
What Blues Wireless was building
Blues aimed to make cellular connectivity easier for manufacturers adding communications to physical products. Its offering combined the Notecard, an embedded connectivity module designed to work with a host microcontroller or computer, and Notehub, a cloud platform for managing devices and routing their data to other services. In other words, the pitch was a device-to-cloud system, not a standalone consumer gadget.
For a product company, cellular IoT can involve choosing a module, arranging connectivity, handling credentials and security, managing power, building device-to-cloud communications, and operating a fleet after deployment. Blues sought to package parts of that work into a developer-oriented system. Its funding announcement described the opportunity as simplifying cellular solutions for connected products (Blues Wireless’s July 2021 announcement).
Notecard: connectivity hardware inside a product
The Notecard was a compact module intended to be integrated into equipment such as agricultural systems, fleet devices, HVAC equipment and environmental monitors. Depending on model and configuration, it could provide cellular connectivity and capabilities such as location data. Developers could communicate with it through a JSON-based API. It still needed the product’s own electronics, sensors, firmware, power system, antenna and enclosure; it was not a complete finished device.
#1 Best Overall
- WiFi LoRa 32 is a classic IoT development board, V3 version, integrated Wi-Fi, BLE, LoRa, 0.96 inch OLED display and other functions. Not Compatible with LoRa 32 V2
- Frequency: 863~928MHz; Wi-Fi: 802.11 b/g/n, up to 150Mbps
- 8MB Memory Storage Capacity
- Type-C USB interface with a complete voltage regulator, ESD protection, short circuit protection, RF shielding, and other protection measures
- This WiFi Esp32 Lora V3 development board comes with one U.FL to SMA connector LoRa antenna
Cellular, Wi-Fi and other connectivity options depend on the specific model. “Global” service should not be read as guaranteed coverage everywhere: network technology, carrier availability, spectrum, signal conditions and regional approvals all matter. Nor does a connectivity module remove the need to validate battery life, certification and performance in the intended deployment.
Notehub: the cloud side
Notehub provided a place to manage devices and projects and route device data to external cloud destinations. Blues describes capabilities including fleet management, data routing and support for host-firmware updates over the air. The intended destinations included services such as AWS, Microsoft Azure, Google Cloud and Snowflake. This meant Blues was pursuing a broader hardware-and-cloud business, rather than relying on module sales alone. See Blues’s Notehub overview.
Rank #2
- ESP8266 has powerful on-board processing and storage capabilities that allow it to be integrated with the sensors and other application specific devices through its GPIOs with minimal development up-front and minimal loading during runtime. Its high degree of on-chip integration allows for minimal external circuitry, and the entire solution, including front-end module, is designed to occupy minimal PCB area.
- ESP8266 is a highly integrated chip designed for the needs of a new connected world.It offers a complete and self-contained Wi-Fi networking solution, allowing it to either host the application or to offload all Wi-Fi networking functions from another application processor.
- The NodeMCU LUA board is supported by a large online community, offering extensive resources for developers. This open-source approach allows for customizing and expanding its capabilities as needed.
- This ESP8266 NodeMcu development board can be use for small temperature and humidity monitor in home automation project and works very well Compatible with Arduino development platform.
- ESP8266 CH340 chip, power your development in the fastest way combinating with NodeMcu Firmware; It's a IOT unit with all available resources on board, support smart link and smart networking.
Why Ray Ozzie drew attention
Ozzie had a long software-industry history before Blues. He was a key figure behind Lotus Notes, founded Groove Networks and later Talko, and became Microsoft’s chief software architect after Microsoft acquired Groove in 2005. He succeeded Bill Gates in that role. Microsoft acquired Talko in 2015.
That background helps explain why the startup attracted attention, but it does not establish that Ozzie alone built Blues’s technology or that his résumé guaranteed the company’s success. GeekWire reported that work with Safecast, the nonprofit associated with data monitoring after the Fukushima disaster, helped expose Ozzie to the challenge of building solar-powered cellular monitoring devices. The outlet said that experience, including work with AT&T, helped motivate a simpler embedded-connectivity product. That account is useful context, rather than proof that the investment hinged on Ozzie’s biography (GeekWire’s 2021 coverage).
Rank #3
- The main body of the module is ESP-WROOM-32 module, which is powerful and supports LWIP protocol, freertos. The peripheral adopts USB serial port chip CP2102 to expand the micro USB interface, which can be directly debugged by connecting to the computer through USB.
- Support AP, STA, AP+STA three modes. Integrated power indicator (red light) and working status indicator (blue light), let you know the status of the module at any time.
- The ESP-32 dual-mode module is compact and easy to embed into your device for your convenience. Compatible with Arduino IDE.
- There are two buttons integrated, one is to reset, and the other is to make the module enter the halberd program mode. The 30 pins on both sides of the development board are convenient for developers to connect and use.
- In addition, this module also supports NodeMCU Lua programming, which expands the scope of its available resources and greatly improves the convenience of learning and development. Of course, it can also be widely used in IoT occasions.
Who invested and what the round was for
The $22 million Series A was led by Sequoia Capital and Lachy Groom. Blues named XYZ Venture Capital and Bill Gates as additional participants, describing Gates as a returning investor. Gates’s participation was personal; the announcement did not say Microsoft invested, and it did not identify him as a lead investor.
Blues said the proceeds would support global marketing, sales expansion and operations, as well as research and development in hardware and services for connecting device data to cloud applications. That combination points to an effort to build adoption and the surrounding platform, not merely to produce more modules. The company’s funding release is the source for the round’s amount, participants and stated uses.
Rank #4
- Powerful Performance with ARM Cortex-M3 CPU:** The STM32F103C8T6 Development Board operates at 72MHz, delivering high-speed processing for your projects. With 64K flash and 20K SRAM, it provides ample memory for complex applications
- Versatile I/O and Connectivity Options:** This ARM 32-bit MCU Minimum System board features a wide range of I/O resources, including a USB Type-C interface for easy communication and power supply, making it ideal for various development needs
- Efficient Debugging and Easy Setup:** Equipped with a SWD debug interface, the STM32F103C8T6 Development Board allows for quick and efficient debugging with just three wires. The Type-C connector ensures reliable and convenient connectivity.
- Compact and Durable Design:** Measuring 5.3cm x 2.2cm, this Single Chip Microcomputer Learning Module is compact and easy to integrate into your projects. The blue PCB and high-quality connectors ensure durability and excellent conductive contact
- Ideal for Beginners and Experts:** Whether you're a beginner or an experienced developer, the STM32F103C8T6 ARM 32-bit MCU Minimum System board offers a robust platform for learning and developing advanced embedded systems
How the pricing pitch changed
In 2021 coverage, the Notecard was described as starting at $49, with cellular data included. Blues’s historical materials described 500 MB of data and long-duration connectivity. Those terms were part of the product’s original commercial pitch; they should not be assumed to describe every current model or plan. See Blues’s historical pricing explanation.
Blues’s current pricing page instead presents Notehub plans with event-based usage. At the time reflected on the page, Essentials included up to 5,000 ingressed events per month, with additional events listed at $0.00075 each; Enterprise was listed at $1,000 per month, with volume discounts and added support. These later cloud-platform terms are not the 2021 Notecard offer, and hardware, connectivity and cloud usage should be considered as separate cost elements. Check Blues’s current pricing page for applicable terms.
Do these 3 things before closing this tab:
1Scan for outdated or missing drivers - takes under a minute2Clear out junk files and repair common Windows errors3Fix the driver behind crashes, sound loss and screen glitchesBest Value
- Powerful ESP32-C3 Processor: ESP32-C3 Mini IoT development board is based on the ESP32-C3 WiFi+BT dual-mode chip. ESP32-C3 is a 32-bit RISC-V CPU that includes an FPU (Floating Point Unit), can perform 32-bit single-precision operations, and has powerful computing capabilities
- Excellent RF Performance: It has excellent RF performance and supports IEEE 802.11 b/g/n WiFi and Bluetooth5(LE) protocols
- External 2.4G WiFi Antenna: The board comes with an external 2.4G WiFi antenna to enhance signal strength for wireless applications
- Compact Design with Rich Interfaces: It features a small, sophisticated form factor combined with a single-sided surface mount design. It is equipped with rich interfaces, with 11 digital I/Os that can be used as PWM pins and 4 analog I/Os that can be used as ADC pins. It supports four serial interfaces including UART, I2C and SPI
- High-Performance Low-Power IoT Board: High-performance, low-power, and cost-effective IoT mini development board, suitable for low-power IoT applications and wireless wearable applications
What the investment did—and did not—establish
The round reflected investor interest in reducing the engineering burden of connecting remote equipment. A packaged module and cloud-routing service could help a team prototype faster or avoid building every connectivity-management layer itself. But it would not make every product “plug-and-play,” eliminate carrier or regulatory requirements, or guarantee cheaper operation at scale.
- Coverage and radio fit: service depends on the chosen model and the networks available where devices will operate.
- Power and performance: battery life varies with transmission frequency, signal quality, antenna design, host hardware and sleep strategy. High-bandwidth or real-time applications may not suit a low-power cellular design.
- Total deployment cost: a module price is only one line item. Sensors, host electronics, enclosure and antenna work, certification, installation, maintenance, connectivity and cloud usage can add costs.
- Platform choice: routing through a cloud service can simplify operations, but it also creates dependence on that platform. Teams with mature fleet-management infrastructure or a requirement to keep the control plane entirely on premises may prefer another architecture.
Later financing puts the 2021 figure in context
Blues’s current company history dates the company’s formation to 2018 and records a $32 million Series A1 in 2023, led by Positive Sum, with Four Rivers, Northgate and Qualcomm among the additional investors. The company newsroom also lists later financing announcements, but those entries do not by themselves establish a complete, consistently defined financing total. The $22 million Series A should therefore be treated as one historical round, not a measure of all capital raised. Blues’s company history and newsroom provide the later context.
Quick Recap
Product prices and availability are accurate as of the date/time indicated and are subject to change. Any price and availability information displayed on Amazon at the time of purchase will apply.
