Zuli, a San Francisco, CA-based smart home company, raised $1.65m in seed funding.
Backers included Menlo Ventures, Winklevoss Capital, Logitech, DeNA, XG Ventures, Stephen Stokols and Hossein Eslambolchi.
The company intends to use the funds to bring their first product, the Zuli Smartplug, to market.
Led by Taylor Umphreys, CEO, Sid Bhargava, CTO, and Ben Chang, VP of Operations, Zuli is advancing the Zuli Smartplug, which leverages proprietary Bluetooth Low Energy mesh network and iBeacon technology to connect the devices in a home. The smartphone app allows users to control, monitor and create custom proximity-based experiences for lights, devices and appliances based on what room they’re in. With a minimum of three smartplugs and a smartphone in the pocket, the system will know whether the user is in the bedroom, living room, bathroom or kitchen and respond accordingly – automating preferences and ensuring low energy consumption.
In addition to creating a personalized home experience, Zuli also allows users to monitor energy consumption directly from the app, providing insights on electricity-usage patterns by device and allowing consumers to become more conscious and efficient in their usage.
The company also established a development partnership with design firm Astro Studios, designers of the Nike FuelBand and Xbox 360.
It had raised $175k via a Kickstarter campaign (read here).
FinSMEs
27/08/2014