Icontrol Networks, the company behind the most widely-distributed interactive security and home automation platform in the industry, announced a new wave of participants in OpenHome Labs. It also announced the Zen Thermostat, an inaugural OpenHome Labs participant, has successfully completed the program and is now OpenHome Certified – meaning it can work seamlessly with Icontrol-powered solutions, including many of the most well-known service provider smart home offerings.
As part of OpenHome Labs, companies receive hands-on mentoring and resources from crowdfunding through go-to-market; a potential base of smart home customers via compatibility with most widely-deployed connected home platform in the industry; and special branding support, so funders have more confidence in the likelihood for success.
OpenHome Labs launched in September 2014, with several inaugural members, including the Zen Thermostat. Zen – which boasts a simple yet beautiful design along with easy-to-use functionality – saw a successful crowdfunding campaign on Indiegogo, reaching its goal within the first week, and it was recently named a winner of Connected World Magazine’s IoT Innovations Awards. Now, as an OpenHome Certified device, it is compatible with leading smart home service provider solutions.
New members of OpenHome Labs include:
Halo SmartLabs, which successfully funded their Halo smoke/fire and carbon monoxide detector and exceeded their Indiegogo campaign goal by 46%. Halo brings an industry-first combination of sensor technology for flash fires, smoldering fires and carbon monoxide in a single device. It is also the only smoke alarm equipped to deliver warnings for hazards outside the home including tornadoes.
- Jalousier, the company behind Comfee, the first device to make ordinary blinds smart. A simple clip allows blinds to automatically adjust themselves based on lighting and temperature changes.
- Nanoleaf, with the success of the world’s most energy-efficient LED light bulbs – the Nanoleaf One and Nanoleaf Bloom – is set to release the Nanoleaf Ivy, the world’s most energy efficient connected bulb, later this year. The Nanoleaf Ivy is a 60W-equivalent smart bulb that lasts 30,000 hours and uses only 7W of energy to produce 800 lumens of warm, comfortable light with a 3000K color temperature.
Jim Johnson, an executive vice president and general manager for Icontrol Networks, shared:
“We launched OpenHome Labs last year to help new products we thought consumers would love come to market faster. Often times, the best innovations come from smaller companies, and we think our new OpenHome Labs members are a perfect example of that.”
Kate Drane, hardware lead for Indiegogo, explained:
“The success of the Zen Thermostat shows just how powerful the idea of ‘crowdfunding-plus,’ is. We’re excited to add that extra layer of mentorship to help new connected device companies see an equally successful go-to-market process.”
Michael Joffe, co-founder of the Zen Thermostat, added:
“Working with the Indiegogo and OpenHome Labs team on developing and launching the campaign really gave us an edge because we could bounce ideas off the experts, as well as leverage the promotional activities that were being rolled out by them.”