In July of last year, TIME published a special double issue entitled “The Smarter Home.” I remember reading that hefty article on a long flight to São Paulo last summer and was fascinated by the futuristic, Jetson-esque homes that would soon become a reality. I didn’t know it at the time, but that article was illustrating the current and future state of the Internet of Things (IoT). But, what exactly is it?

In a truly informative Vimeo video, Philip Moynagh, VP of Intel’s IoT Group, explains, “The Internet of Things is the second major revolution of the Internet and I think in 10 to 20 years, we’re going to look back and say that was the real revolution of the Internet.” The Internet, as we know it, is an “Internet of screens” (laptops, smartphones, tablets, etc), he asserts. However, one day in the near future, all objects, from home appliances to airplane engines, will be connected to the Internet and each other.

According to Chris Rouland (pictured above), founder and CEO of Atlanta startup, Bastille, “There are thousands of manufacturers scrambling to bring IoT devices to market without concern for security or privacy. As these devices begin to infiltrate business environments en masse, new complex and sophisticated threats will frequently evolve, and the responsibility will be on the enterprise to protect their assets and employees,” he explained.

As the first company to secure the IoT, Bastille recently extended its angel round to include an additional $1M. The round includes David Cowan of Silicon Valley’s Bessemer Ventures. “When I heard that Rouland’s team was developing a generalized solution to IoT security, I asked him to let me join the round,” Cowan recently said. Bastille will use the seed round to implement its pilot programs at major financial institutions and officially launch its product at RSA this April.

We recently sat down with Bastille’s Founder and CEO, Chris Rouland. When asked why he located his company in Atlanta, he said, “Atlanta has a very robust cyber security community and an abnormally high density of cyber security experts.” Not to mention, as a Georgia Tech graduate himself, he’s in good connection with the college.

As you can imagine, Chris’ house is full of gadgets and he loves playing with connected things. His favorite? An IoT soccer ball that connects to an app, measures your accuracy, and tells you how to kick better. Be on the lookout for Atlanta’s own, Bastille to make a big impact in 2015 and beyond.

Follow Bastille on:

Twitter: https://twitter.com/bastillenet

Google +: https://plus.google.com/116430183100505215231/about

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/bastille-networks

[Photo Credit: Whitlock/Hypepotamus]