Anatoly Lebedev and Sergey Lyubka believe in an Internet-of-Things future. In fact, they believe in IoT so much that they both left jobs in Google to found Cesanta, which was incorporated in 2013.

Cesanta has developed an open-source IoT platform, Smart.js, that lets companies connect their products to the internet. Via the firm’s website, you can see an example of how the Smart.js platform works: using IoT you can control a lightbulb and digital readout in Cesanta’s office in real time.

Lebedev (34), who hails from Russia, and Lyubka (40), originally from Ukraine, have been living in Ireland for years. Lyubka worked as an engineering manager in Google while Lebedev worked on developing AdWords business in in EMEA emerging market countries, including strategic partnerships that involved multimillion dollar deal negotiations.

Jumping out of Google is not a step to be taken lightly. “I became an entrepreneur out of necessity,” says Lyubka. “The embedded software I required was simply not available so I wrote my own. Anatoly has always been heavily involved in the Irish startup scene and has acted as mentor at many hackathons and startup weekends.”

Global Ambition

Based in the Trinity Enterprise Campus in Grand Canal Quay, Cesanta doesn’t lack for ambition. “We want to make all devices in the world connected,” says Lyubka. That’s the sort of pitch that impresses investors, and a funding round at the start of 2015 secured €450,000 from AIB, Eventbrite founder Kevin Hartz and Enterprise Ireland. A few months later, a funding round from private investors secured another €105,000.

In Association with

According to Lyubka: “Finding the right people was the main managerial challenge. Our staff include alumni from Google, Twitter and HubSpot and investors are always looking at the team behind the idea, and whether the team is capable to turn the idea into an actual business. Investors also look at the potential of the market this company is trying to get into. Timeline for deliverables is defined by the team capabilities and market situation.”

Cesanta’s software is open source, so developers using the product only pay a royalty-free license fee as they commercialise their product. “Most of our customers come from outside of Ireland, and we think a bigger push is required from the government on the big public companies to be more innovative and consider working with local companies like us.”

Life After Google

Lyubka adds: “Ireland has some great support structures for startups and the people we deal with in Enterprise Ireland are best in class. However, many people are concerned about the situation for entrepreneurs in Ireland compared with the UK, in terms of tax and incentives.”

Cesanta booked a profit of €59,000 in its first year of trading but Lyubka concedes that self-employment is more demanding than working for Google. “Running a business is a tough 24x7 job. If you are excited about what you are doing and where you are heading, then this is for you. If you are just driven by cash, then you are likely to fail. Times will get tough and your belief in your product is what will bring you through."

Pictured are Sergey Lyubka (left) and Anatoly Lebedev