iControl has landed $23 million to continue development of its wireless home security – and home energy management – technology.
The Palo Alto, Calif.-based startup raised the series C investment from new investors ADT Security Services, Cisco, Comcast Interactive Capital and GE Security, as well as existing investors Charles River Ventures, Intel Capital and Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers.
Wednesday's funding brings to $45 million the amount iControl has raised to date, the company reported. That included a $15.5 million round in April 2008 (see Green Light post).
IControl started out as a home security company. It provides homeowners a web-based and mobile device connection to their home security systems, IP cameras, sensors and wirelessly linked lights, locks and thermostats.
But the link to thermostats offered a route for iControl to enter the burgeoning field of managing home energy use. That includes dozens of startups like Tendril Networks, EnergyHub, Energate, Control4, Greenbox Technology, Onzo, AlertMe and OpenPeak, as well as IT giants Google, Microsoft and Cisco (see stories here, here and here).
There are multiple paths to cracking the home energy management market. Many companies are seeking partnerships with utilities (see eMeter Lands $32M for Smart Meter Data, Home Energy Software, GE, Tendril Team Up on Smart Home Technology and The Elusive Smart Meter-Demand Response Combo).
IControl intends to sell its products through other providers – "broadband operators, security providers and utilities," according to its press release.
The presence of ADT and GE Security in iControl's new round of funding clearly outlines the security system pathway into the home. IControl has partnerships to integrate its systems with ADT Security Service and Black & Decker, and also works with GE and Honeywell home security systems.
As Ellen Pao, a partner with Kleiner Perkins, said in June of the firm's 2008 investment in iControl, consumers may be more likely to spend hundreds of dollars and $30 to $40 a month "to secure their peace of mind" with a home security system, and then add home energy management to the platform.
But Comcast's inclusion in Wednesday's funding round could indicate that the cable giant is envisioning a move into home energy management – a possibility Greentech Media first reported on in March (see Green Light post).
Telecommunications companies such as Verizon, AT&T, Telefonica and BT Group (formerly known as British Telecom) have been making moves in that direction (see The Telco Home Energy Invasion).
IControl investor Cisco also is promising a home energy management system as part of its larger suite of promised smart grid services and products. And iControl investor Intel has its own plans for managing home energy use (see Intel Inside Wind Turbines).
Like many home network makers, iControl is promising customers the ability to manage the system over an iPhone or other mobile devices (see Green Light posts here and here).