Beverly, MA Legendary software builder, serial entrepreneur, and former Microsoft executive Ray Ozzie has returned to the North Shore to launch yet another high-tech venture. With 4,700 s/f of R&D space, cellular IoT company Blues Wireless is the latest addition to the technology cluster housed at Cummings Properties’ Dunham Ridge business campus.
Ozzie created the Lotus Notes application in the 1980s and then sold his company, Iris Associates, to IBM. He went on to found two more companies that were ultimately acquired by Microsoft. After the software giant purchased Ozzie’s productivity software firm Groove Networks, Ozzie stepped into Bill Gates’ role as chief software architect.
Blues offers product developers a simple, cost-effective tool to bring nearly any product online, from a refrigerator to a water quality monitor. Its embedded Notecard microchip connects the device to AT&T’s cellular network, rather than WiFi, creating a stable connection that allows users to control and monitor the product from anywhere.
“Blues Wireless does both hardware development and software development,” said Ozzie. “Dunham Ridge had the mix of engineering and general work space that we were looking for, with an easy commute to Boston. Cummings took the time to understand the nature of what we needed, and was very flexible. It’s a great space.”
Ozzie worked with Cummings Properties business development officer Michelle Paul on the lease. He knew the commercial real estate firm from when Groove Networks was based at Cummings Center, another Cummings office park.
“The North Shore continues to attract innovative companies across the technology and science sectors,” said Cummings VP Steve Drohosky. “Ray Ozzie’s decision to expand his new firm’s Copley Place operation with an additional facility at Dunham Ridge is a testament to the region’s appeal for major players in the Boston business community.”
Dunham Ridge houses 500,000 leasable s/f along Rte. 128. Among the campus’ current occupants are Acculab Measurement Standards Laboratory, Microline Surgical, New England Biolabs, spmd, System 7 Wolfers, and Harmonic Drive.
