Plum

Plum is a “smart” device that dims and controls the lights in your home.

With Plum, you can schedule your lights to turn on right before you arrive home from work, or at a certain time each evening, providing extra security.

In addition, you can see what lights are on throughout your home on the app, and create different light settings for activities like cooking, watching television or hosting a party.

You can even keep track of the amount of energy each light uses.

If your smartphone isn’t nearby, you can control Plum directly on the easily-installed light pad or via voice commands using smart home assistant devices like Amazon Alexa and Google Assistant.

Today, more and more home devices are becoming connected to the Internet, giving rise to what’s known as the smart home.

For example, the Nest smart thermostat enabled users to more accurately control their home's temperature. (In 2014, Nest was acquired by Google for $3.2 billion).

Meanwhile, Plum aims to become the top product in the $1 billion smart lighting industry.

Traditionally, smart lighting has only been found in million-dollar homes. That’s because the cost to have these lights professionally installed can reach upwards of $50,000.

But Plum is targeting the more than 27 million U.S. homes valued closer to $350,000, giving the company access to a potential 1 billion light switches.

Plum’s Wi-Fi connected light pads start at $99 each, and are priced at less than $2,000 for an order of 20.

And unlike some professional lighting systems, Plum fits into any existing light switch.

Plum started in 2012. That year, the company was selected from a field of 80 start-ups as the "People’s Choice Winner" at DEMO, an annual conference where companies like TiVo and E-Trade were introduced.

In 2013, Plum was selected into the Techstars start-up incubator program, which has helped companies like Uber and Twilio become multi-million-dollar businesses.

And in 2014, Plum was accepted into the Microsoft Ventures Accelerator, another program designed to put start-up companies on the fast track for success.

In less than two years, Plum has generated nearly $700,000 in revenue.

As for Plum’s potential, the Internet-connected home market is one of the fastest growing industries.

According to Goldman Sachs, an investment firm, the market is projected to grow at 800% a year for the next few years, reaching $78 billion by 2023. Lighting is projected to comprise 23% of that market.

Team Background

Glen Burchers - CMO & Co-Founder

Glen brings a more than two decades’ worth of marketing and sales experience to Plum.

Prior to joining the company, Glen worked as a consultant for SixDI, a project aimed to analyze the current landscape of the healthcare industry.

He was the Director of Global Consumer Marketing for Freescale Semiconductor, a semiconductor manufacturing company. In 2015, Freescale was acquired by NXP Semiconductors for $11.8 billion.

Glen was the former Director of Business Development for SigmaTel, a consumer electronics company that was one of the original suppliers of the iPod Shuffle music player. Sigma was eventually acquired by Freescale in 2008.

Glen spent two years as the VP of Marketing for D2Audio, an audio system manufacturer. While there, Glen helped oversee the company’s growth and was instrumental in the company’s acquisition by Intersil.

In addition, Glen spent two years as the Sales Director for Tripath, a semiconductor start-up company. Tripath eventually achieved substantial profits and went public.

Before Tripath, Glen worked as a marketing manager and salesman for Cyrix, a company manufacturing microprocessors. Glen helped design one of the company’s first processors, which was used in Compaq desktop computers. Cyrix was eventually acquired by National Semiconductor.

Glen received a Bachelor’s degree in Engineering from Texas A&M University.

Utz Baldwin - CEO & Co-Founder

Utz is the former President and CEO of CEDIA, short for Custom Electronic Design and Installation Association. This company represents more than 30,000 manufacturers and designers in the “connected home” market.

Prior to that, Utz spent more than 15 years as the President of AD Systems, a company providing residential technology solutions in Texas.

Utz also served as the former Director of Public Relations for Images in Time and Space. This was the world’s largest holographic exhibit produced by the Associates of Science in Technology in cooperation with the Ottawa’s National Museum of Science and Technology.

Utz began his professional career as the Director of Jonas Miller Sound, a consumer electronics retailer and manufacturer.

Rich Warwick - COO & Co-Founder

Along with his duties at Plum, Rich spends time as a CEO and mentor at Capital Factory. This Texas-based company helps start-up companies learn necessary skills and Rich focuses on educating start-ups on areas like operations, product definition and marketing.

Previously, Rich served as an advisory board member for Set.fm. This is an app where users can download concert recordings minutes after a show onto their cellphone.

Rich was a consultant for LGE Execs, a company dedicated to helping start-up companies grow and learn.

In addition, he spent time as the VP of Austin Products for Evernote, a company creating smartphone applications. While there, Rich helped create six products in one year and helped Evernote increase its revenue to $6 million.

Rich served as SVP of Engineering and Operations for NextIO, a start-up offering data solutions for businesses. NextIO was eventually acquired by Emulex, a network security company.

Prior to NextIO, Rich was a co-founder and VP of Engineering for D2Audio Corp, a start-up creating high-performance digital audio amplifiers. While there, Rich was responsible for leading product development and he managed a staff of 35 employees.

Rich received a Bachelor’s degree and Master’s degree from Georgia Tech.

Co-Investors

American Family Ventures

Venture capital group that has invested in companies like Life360 and Ring.

Capital Factory

Investment firm working with early- and late-stage start-ups whose portfolio includes companies such as Cisco Systems, Buzzfeed and WikiBuy.

Microsoft Accelerator

Providing resources and business connections to early-stage start-up companies. Portfolio includes Glaze (advertising company), Novi (online security company) and Polystream (media company).

Chasella

Early-stage investment firm with portfolio that includes companies like Urban Umbrella, Triplemint and Inkbox.