Breed Reply has announced about $3.8 million in funding for three start-ups in the sectors of health, smart home and energy.

Breed Reply, a technology incubator that funds and supports the development of Internet of Things (IoT) start-ups in Europe and the U.S., is taking between a 20 percent and 70 percent stake in each of the companies, which were selected from 130-plus applications for the company’s Best of Breed IoT challenge.

In the health sector, BrainControl is an Italian start-up that has developed an assistive technology controlled by brainwaves, which allows people suffering from pathologies such as amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), multiple sclerosis, or traumatic or ischemic injury, to communicate with the external world.

BrainControl uses a brain-computer interface (BCI) technology that, thanks to a headset worn by the patient, interprets the electrical signals corresponding with certain brain activity and allows external devices, such as computers or tablets, to be controlled with thoughts. BrainControl is the winner of the eHealth Solution EU SME Competition and of the Gaetano Marzotto Prize.

In the smart-home sector, Cocoon is a UK based start-up that has created a smart home security system that utilizes SUBSOUND technology to sense unusual activity throughout the whole home, without the need for any additional sensors or professional installation. It avoids false alarms by learning what's normal for a home. It sends alerts and video straight to a smartphone when something unusual happens, via the Cocoon mobile app. Cocoon received a London Design Award and has been listed in Forbes as one of the top new businesses to watch in 2015.

And in the energy sector, Greeniant is a Dutch start-up whose solution analyzes energy consumption by using the data from smart meters. Greeniant offers insight into the consumption of energy by disaggregating the data and enabling end users and energy providers to see usage by appliance. This offers extraordinary benefits for consumers and businesses, such as a reduction of energy consumption, a reduced carbon footprint and cost savings. One of the advantages of Greeniant's solution is the fact that only smart meter data is used, so there's no need for plugs or other equipment. Greeniant has been pronounced a 'Disruptive Technology' by The European Committees EIT-ICT Labs and is the winner of the "Apps for Energy Challenge.”

"We are very pleased with the results of the first IoT Best in Breed initiative,” said Emanuele Angelidis, CEO of Breed Reply. “And we are already working for the launch of the next initiative. These three new venture partners represent excellence in terms of both innovation in the IoT sector, and quality of their teams. The managerial support offered by Breed Reply to BrainControl, Cocoon and Greeniant in addition to the financial investment will accelerate the presence and success of their solutions in the market.”