When you want to install security around your home, the process usually takes a little while. You must call a company and have them come to your location to set everything up.
Daniel Pickford thinks there’s a better solution, and the former Speakeasy CTO just raised $825,000 from angel investors for his new startup, Elarm.
Pickford didn’t want to reveal too much on the project he’s been working on with his co-founder Adam Rea for the past six months. But he provide with us a few details in terms of what Elarm is all about.
“We’re building a next-generation home security system using advanced sensor network technology to make the system a lot easier to install and be used by regular people,” he told GeekWire.
To protect your home, Elarm will offer hardware like cameras and sensors that you can easily install around your home. The startup will also sell accompanying software, specifically for mobile devices, that you can use to access data and feeds.
The product is aimed at people who aren’t in a good position to get an alarm system, like apartment residents or those not looking to sign a long-term contract.
“It’s dramatically simpler than existing alarm systems,” Pickford said of Elarm.
Elarm actually started in 2011 down in California without Pickford and raised about $2 million before shutting down. That money was returned to investors and the company was inactive for several months.
Pickford then reached out to a couple of the original Elarm investors — also former Flektor colleagues — to find out what was going on. That’s when he decided to recharge the company with himself and Rea in charge.
“This is a clean slate,” Pickford said of Elarm.
Pickford previously led the engineering team at Speakeasy, which was founded 17 years ago in Seattle and acquired by Best Buy in 2007. After Speakeasy, he worked at another startup called Flektor, which was acquired by News Corp. Pickford then was CTO at Los Angeles-based textPlus before returning to Seattle for Elarm.
