Minut, the Scandinavian tech start-up that makes the Minut smart home alarm, today announced it has raised $8m in Series A funding, bringing the total amount of funding over $10m. KPN Ventures has led the investment round, welcoming international energy and services company Centrica as a new investor alongside previous backers Karma Ventures, SOSV, and Nordic Makers.
Minut has already sold devices in more than 60 countries with a growing team and new office based in London. The new capital will be used to accelerate growth across markets and to strengthen the product portfolio.
Founded in 2014, Minut boasts an enviable executive team, led by CEO/co-founder Nils Mattisson who spent seven years in the Exploratory Design Group at Apple. The team also includes Head of Product Johan Nystrand, who worked as one of the first engineers at Gapminder, later acquired by Google, where he ended up staying for ten years contributing to the development of public health and search.
“With their innovative ‘Point’ device, The Minut team has executed on the vision to make home security smart, simple and accessible for everybody. KPN powers the connected home and sees great opportunities to partner with Minut to help people protect their homes”, said Herman Kienhuis, Director of KPN Ventures.
Marc Sabas, Venture Principal for Centrica Innovations said, “We first came across Minut as part of our Active Ageing start-up challenge and have been really impressed to see how their product has continued to develop over the past year. As a global leader in providing cutting-edge connected home products and services, we look forward to working in partnership with the team to explore further opportunities to deliver products that offer greater choice, control and comfort over our customers’ homes.”
Tommi Uhari, Founding Partner at European deep-tech investor Karma Ventures and chairman of Minut welcomed the new investors.
He said, “We’re excited to have seasoned investors KPN Ventures and Centrica join us in Minut. Their investment validates the innovative and unique product developed by the team at Minut and shows how it’s relevant for partners in several industry verticals. We look forward to deepening our collaboration on the board in the future.”
Mattison said, “We have created the first complete smart alarm to keep your home safe and sound through a single device. It analyses the environment and any motion or sound to identify and alert you to threats through instant notifications. Installation takes seconds and the app is easy to use for the whole family.
“Through the use of machine-learning the sound recognition is continuously improved by the Minut community, making the system even better over time. To preserve privacy, the design is camera-free and the data processing runs on-device, so no sound ever has to be recorded.”
Mattisson added, “Feeling safe shouldn’t be a luxury, or come at the cost of privacy. Until recently the most affordable solution for home security and monitoring has been Wi-Fi connected cameras, but people don’t want or trust them in their homes. Our aim is to make home security and monitoring accessible to everyone, without having to compromise the feeling of home.”
Co-founder Marcus Ljungblad said, “Minut has particularly resonated with younger users in the rental market, who until now haven’t had a reasonable option for home security.
“Easy to self-install in under five minutes, with no drilling or cables to run, and simple to take with you when you move, Minut has made protecting your home more accessible than ever before. It’s no wonder many of the world’s leading home security and tech firms have taken note and approached Minut about their solution.”
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