Bentley Systems and Worldsensing sign strategic agreement

Bentley Systems has entered into a non-exclusive commercial agreement with Worldsensing to strategically accelerate the adoption of infrastructure IoT. This will further unlock value for infrastructure designers, constructors and owner-operators in their use of infrastructure digital twins. To this end, Worldsensing is expanding its hardware portfolio offerings by acquiring Sensemetrics’ Thread connectivity device business from Bentley. Under the agreement, Bentley also becomes the lead investor in Worldsensing’s Series D capital raise.

Bentley acquired Sensemetrics in 2021. The company, originally founded in 2014 in San Diego, California, USA, is known for its Thread plug-and-play data aggregation instrument that is used to power and connect any Sensemetrics integrated device or sensor.

Worldsensing’s acquisition of the Thread connectivity device business will offer new options to its customers where adaptive sensor integrations or active sensor management are a key requirement. Thread offers broadband sensor connectivity to uniquely connect dynamic, high-power or high-speed sensors and to stream sensor data to the cloud for analysis.

Connecting digital twin cloud services

Thread is a fully autonomous sensor connectivity device with optional integrated 4G/LTE cellular modem, wireless mesh networking and battery pack in a weather-resistant enclosure. Each broadband device also serves as a gateway for wireless smart sensors. Combined with Worldsensing’s existing market-leading offerings, Thread will be a driver for new growth opportunities. Worldsensing will become a preferred sensor connectivity partner to Bentley, and Bentley will become a preferred Internet of Things (IoT) software partner to Worldsensing. This offers mutual users a best-in-class, fully integrated, end-to-end sensor management solution.

“We are thrilled to enter into this agreement with Bentley Systems,” said Ignasi Vilajosana, CEO of Worldsensing. “The acquisition of Sensemetrics’ Thread connectivity device business will expand our portfolio and allow us to provide more options to our customers. We are pleased to become a preferred sensor connectivity partner for Bentley’s iTwin IoT digital twin cloud services, confirming our position as the reference connectivity platform for mining, construction, rail and infrastructure monitoring.”

“We are excited to partner with Worldsensing and believe that this strategic agreement will bring significant benefits to our respective user bases,” said Justin Schmidt, vice president, corporate development at Bentley Systems. “We are confident that the combination of Worldsensing’s expertise in IoT solutions and our leadership in infrastructure digital twin software will create a powerful offering for the market.”