Cassia Networks

About Cassia Networks

Cassia Networks, founded in 2014 by Felix Zhao, provides enterprise-grade Bluetooth Internet of Things (IoT) products and solutions. The company is headquartered in Silicon Valley, with an office in Beijing, China. The founder and CEO, Felix Zhao, is a serial entrepreneur with a background in wireless technology, having previously founded Azalea Networks and held positions at Aruba Networks, Cisco Systems, and Sensys Networks. He holds over 20 U.S. patents in areas including wireless communication and Bluetooth.

The company's core offering revolves around its patented technology that extends the communication range of Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) devices up to 1 kilometer and enables one-to-many device connectivity. This overcomes the standard limitations of Bluetooth, making it a viable solution for large-scale enterprise and industrial deployments. Cassia's product line includes a series of long-range Bluetooth gateways, such as the indoor/outdoor X1000 and the ruggedized X2000, which can connect to multiple BLE devices simultaneously. These gateways feature edge computing capabilities, allowing customers to run their own applications inside the gateway's container.

To manage these networks, Cassia offers the IoT Access Controller (AC), a software platform for deploying and managing hundreds of gateways and thousands of connected devices from a single interface. The AC provides features like end-to-end security, remote monitoring, Bluetooth locationing, and seamless roaming. The business model appears to be based on selling hardware (gateways) and the accompanying software management platform (IoT Access Controller) to enterprise clients. The company serves various markets, including industrial IoT, digital health, smart campuses, and personnel and asset tracking. Notable clients and partners include ABB, Medtronic, and Extronics.