Abode

abode is a new kind of home security company. It provides a "best of both worlds" approach: a traditional security solution along with all of the benefits of Internet of Things (IoT) technology.

"Traditional" security means battery backup, cellular failover, with encrypted devices and software.

abode's self-installable products were designed in San Francisco. Its products are innovative, beautiful, and professional grade. With these products -- and with its easy-to-use cloud platform -- abode aims to disrupt the status quo in today's security industry.

Legacy security providers have not innovated in 20 years -- due in part to a lack of competitive threats, antiquated technology with no upgrade path, and complacent attitudes of vendors not wanting to cannibalize existing revenue streams.

These legacy providers offer no battery back-up, no internet services, no professional monitoring, and no home owners insurance discount.

abode's business model enables customers to have free self-monitoring capabilities, or paid on-demand professional monitoring. This provides consumers with a seamless way to connect and protect their homes -- all with no contract.

One of the founders, Chris Carney, previously worked at ADT Security Systems, a leading "legacy" security provider. And in a vote of confidence, one of abode's key investors is Mike Snyder, the former CEO of ADT.

As Mike Snyder said recently:

"First and foremost, I believe in the team. I witnessed Chris’ thought leadership when I was CEO of ADT. I watched these guys build abode from an idea to where it is today. They have continued to execute against abode’s strategic plan. I invested in abode because of the vision that Chris & Brent have in disrupting an industry that hasn’t innovated in decades. This market is primed for disruption. Their approach to redesigning security hardware and innovating the user’s software platform integrate nicely into a reinvented business model."

abode's solution is relevant for single-family homes, as well as for renters. Studies show that houses without security systems are 3 times more likely to be broken into. This is a market with room for growth: today, just 12% of renters and 30% of homeowners subscribe to a security service.

Competitors includes Canary and Dropcam. abode's features and competitive advantages include:

• Real-time monitoring to ensure 100% success of alarms
• Control and notifications via iPhone, Android, and Web apps
• Timeline of events with visual verification (this prevents false alarms)
• Live video streaming from IP cameras & DVR storage
• Control of third-party devices including Nest and Sonos
• Ability for customers to self-monitor
• Optional professional installation and monitoring
• No long-term contracts
• Predictive intelligence for “Verified Alarm” scoring
• Automated software updates
• Long battery life (3 to 7 years)

The company did a Kickstarter campaign and pre-sold $143,000 of product. The products start at $399. Full-year revenues in Year 1 are estimated at $6.3 million, and revenues in Year 5 are estimated at $200 million.

Potential acquirers include Nest Labs (Google), ADT / Tyco, Honeywell, Samsung, or Qualcomm.

Team Background

Brent Franks - Co-Founder

Brent is an entrepreneur with a background in Software Development and Sales.

He's Co-Founder of TerraSmart, a company that provides installation solutions for solar energy.

He's also held various leadership positions in Sales, Marketing, and IT including doing Enterprise Sales at salesforce.com.

As an engineer, he designed and deployed architecture for a software start-up scaling to 100 million hits per day.

He earned his B.S. in Business Administration and Information Systems from Susquehanna University..

Christopher Carney - Co-Founder / CEO

Chris has 15 years of experience in Security & Software.

He was formerly on the ADT "Pulse" development team, which created a remote security product.

At ADT, he was also responsible for Finance and M&A.

Prior to that, he was COO of Proximex (part of the Tyco Security Products portfolio of brands), the leader in event and information management for both physical and logical security.

He earned his degree from University of Rhode Island - College of Business Administration.

Al Yarbrough - Co-Founder / Hardware Security

Al holds multiple patents in hardware and security.

He formerly developed video alarm verification software for comparative image analysis.

Max Burton - Chief Creative Officer

Max is an experienced product designer.

He was the Executive Creative Director for Product Design at frog, the Creative Director at Nike Tech Lab, and the former Founder / CEO of Matter Global, a product interaction and design company.

Kashif Mueen - Chief Technology Officer

Kashif has 15+ years experience in enterprise architecture, product development, R&D, and prototyping.

He is an at expert at software / hardware integration.

He was a Senior Engineer at Verizon, and CTO at WhereverTV an IPTV company.

Co-Investors

Mike Snyder

Angel investor, and former CEO of legacy security system company, ADT.