Virtuosys and its recently launched multi-access edge computing (MEC) platform have been scooped up by Veea, a company that provides a platform-as-a-service for smart applications. The deal results in a bolstered smart application platform operating under the VeeaHub name.

The companies have been working on IoT devices, gateways, and smart applications for the consumer and enterprise markets. Virtuosys CEO Alan Jones said that includes ongoing or planned trials in the United States, the United Kingdom, South Korea, and France.

“We have been working with the Veea team for some time and we’re incredibly excited about the unique market opportunities that our combined resources can offer to a growing number of industries that are recognizing the limitations of the cloud and are increasingly looking to the promise of edge computing,” Jones said in a statement.

Terms of the deal were not announced. Once the deal closes, Virtuosys will become a subsidiary of Veea and change its name to Veea Systems.

Virtuosys earlier this year unveiled a software and hardware platform targeted at the MEC market. The platform combines Linux-based software and an edge device to create a mesh network.

The software component includes a management gateway for traffic routing. Data traffic that needs cloud-based analytics can be sent in that direction, while data that can be parsed through at the edge location can be handled on site.

That software also relies on containers to support and secure applications. David Rose, vice president of sales and business development at Virtuosys, noted that similar to a cloud deployment using virtual machines (VMs) for greater efficiency, the Virtuosys platform uses containers because VMs were “too heavy for what we were doing at the edge.”

Rose said Virtuosys had about 20 applications already developed and running in a containerized environment. “They are probably not in a fully realized production state, but they provide customers with a starting point in terms of services that they can run,” Rose said.

Virtuosys in February scored funding from the Department for Transport in the United Kingdom to demonstrate an edge computing platform for use on trains. That project included a partnership with train leasing company Angel Trains.

Veea’s smart application platforms include products for the retail and hospitality markets. This includes point-of-sale platforms, payment services, and applications that allow merchants and customers to connect.

Veea earlier this year changed its name from Max2, which it had used since its founding in 2014. The company was founded by Michael Salmasi, who was formerly an analyst at UBS Financial Services, and is currently CEO of Veea. That CEO position is shared with Allen Salmasi, who is also chairman of the board.

Allen Salmasi was chairman and CEO at NextWave Wireless, which in the mid-1990s won billions of dollars in wireless spectrum licenses in a government auction, before promptly defaulting on payments. NextWave then fought a nearly decade long battle with the FCC over the control of those licenses.  It finally managed to wrestle control of most of those licenses and then quickly sold them to various established wireless operators for billions of dollars.

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