JE Dunn leads $500K round in smart apartment startup Homebase
July 20, 2017 | Bobby Burch
A handful of Kansas City firms both large and small are partnering to advance smart home technologies.
Blake Miller
JE Dunn Construction Group and Sunflower Development Group have led at $500,000 investment round in Kansas City-based Homebase, a tech firm building an IoT smart apartment and building platform for multi-family properties. Will Winkler of PSW Real Estate, Andrew Brain of Brain Family Development and John Meyer of Lemonly also joined in the round.
Homebase’s app allows tenants to not only pay rent and request maintenance, but also schedule services and tap a plethora of smart home technology that has emerged in recent years. Homebase also enables property managers to remotely manage vacant units’ lighting and thermostats to help with utility costs.
Homebase CEO Blake Miller said the funding adds credibility to the IoT firm as well as scale outside of Kansas City. He added it will also allow the firm to add new engineering and customer support staff.
“I’m really looking forward to improving our residents lifestyle through unique connected services offered via the Homebase platform,” Miller said. “We are a IoT smart home provider, but to me it’s not really about the “things,” like smart locks, as it is the type of experience we can deliver to our residents.
Since February, Homebase has been conducting beta testing of the platform with Marvel Properties in apartment communities around the Kansas City area. Homebase is also designing multiple smart communities concepts that are currently under construction in Kansas City and Austin, Texas, with planned delivery in the second half of 2017.
The Homebase tech is taking on a big market opportunity. Research from the NMMC suggests that the U.S. will need 4.6 million new apartments by 2030.
2017 Startups to Watch
stats here
Related Posts on Startland News
KC virtual reality firm partners with KU, NFL coaches
A Kansas City-based virtual reality company hopes some marquee partnerships will plug it into a market projected to reach $150 billion in five years. Founded in 2013, Eon Sports VR recently landed the University of Kansas football team as a client for its mobile virtual reality platform to help players train without the risk of…
ECJC relocates office, updates brand
The Enterprise Center in Johnson County is shaking things up. The non-profit organization that connects entrepreneurs to the resources they need to grow revealed Thursday an updated website, brand identity, and new office location. “This move is the culmination of a long, strategic transition to ensure that as Kansas City’s entrepreneurial community changes, we change…
Former Sprint COO LeMay dishes on KC capital, failure
There are few people in Kansas City more connected into the area’s investor, corporate and startup community than FarmLink CEO Ron LeMay. Also now managing director of Kansas City-based OpenAir Equity Partners, LeMay frequently sees the successes and failures of the metro area’s capital landscape. The former Sprint COO recently spoke with dozens of Kansas…
RFP365 partners with Kansas City, raises $950K
On the heels of a six-figure raise, area tech firm RFP365 recently landed the City of Kansas City as a client for its software that eases the request for proposal process. The company’s deal with Kansas City was born from the city’s “Innovation Partnership” program, which affords entrepreneurs the opportunity to “test drive” their technologies…