Two of the most exciting technological phenomenon to occur over the next few decades will be the rise of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and the Internet of Things (IoT). While we are still years away from having commercialized AI in our homes like Jarvis from Iron Man movies, IoT – smart, internet connected devices that can “talk” to other smart, connected devices – is already permeating our lives.
Today a home is more than “where the heart is”, it is also where our most precious belongings are! And while a brave new world beckons, our needs are pretty much the same – protect and preserve the stuffs that matter. Novi is a smart home alarm device that lets you monitor your abode from anywhere.
About the Startup
Novi started out of a class at Brigham Young University by four enterprising men – Wade Anderson, Matthew Henningson, Ethan Grabau and AJ Hamner. They were researching on making car alarms more useful and “smart”. However, after going door-to-door and conducting interviews they found that many people didn’t care much about a smart car alarm, but that they were really interested in a smart home alarm. So, Novi was born.
They launched a Kickstarter campaign in June 2014 and raised $175,000 in 30 days. The startup was placed 6th out of over 100 companies in the PITCH Competition in Ireland and was accepted as one of 50 finalists worldwide to present at CeBIT 2015. They have since hired Tyler Crawford as CEO and two additional engineers.
Novi is a simple DIY home security system that requires no contracts or monthly fees. It has 3 major components to it:
- Sensor: Attaches to your ceiling and looks a lot like a smoke detector. Inside is an HD camera, motion sensor, smoke detector, and a 100dB siren. When motion or smoke is detected (while the system is armed), then it will snap a series of 3 pictures and send those photos right to your Novi App on your smartphone.
- Base Station: Plugs into your router via ethernet and relays the images from the sensor to your smartphone. Also has backup batteries and 3G fallback capability, which means if your internet or power goes down your system will still stay up and running.
- Novi App: This is where you will “arm” and “disarm” the sensor as well as receive picture notifications of activity in your home, request more pictures, panic the siren, among other cool features.
About their Plans
The USP of Novi is that it doesn’t require a subscription and it has built-in power and networking capabilities. The team is insistent on not making Novi into a bloated and complicated device that their competition offers just for the sake of “spec-sheet wars”. They are targeting first time users of smart devices as well those looking for simple, subscription free solution for home monitoring.
The device will be sold both at their online store as well as retail stores. The 3G fallback service will be charged separately and the company also plans to launch a-la-carte monitoring which means that a professional company will watch your home while you’re away on vacation, swamped with work, etc.
Special Offer!
Startup Dope readers can avail an exclusive 15% off on the purchase of a Novi System. Head over to their website and use the promo code novi-gift