Medical alert systems or personal emergency response systems are a quick way for the elderly and those with health issues to receive help when it’s most urgently required. While the first medical alert systems made their debut in the 1970s, the introduction of AI and IoT combined with an aging baby boomer population will lead this market to expand to $17B by 2027. Aloe Care Health is a modern medical alert system that offers live, hand-free communications with family and emergency response teams that has integrated motion, temperature, and air quality sensors. The company’s smart hub is voice-activated and operates on AT&T’s 4G networks without the need for WiFi, connecting concerned family members in seconds without the need for intrusive cameras. Aloe Care Health provides the company’s proprietary hardware for an initial fee that starts at $149.99 for a hub and care button and the recurring monitoring and communication service starts at $29.99 per month. AlleyWatch caught up with Cofounder and CEO Ray Spoljaric to learn more about the inspiration for the business, the company’s future plans, latest round of funding from investors that include City Light, the Laerdal Million Lives Fund, Springbank, and Drumbeat Ventures.
Hardware
Windmill Raises $3M for its Modern Air Conditioners Designed for City Life
As we close out spring in the city and summer approaches, New Yorkers will be largely reliant on window air conditioners to get through the hot, blistering days in their apartments. 75% of the buildings in NYC’s five boroughs were constructed before 1960 and central air systems in buildings became more prevalent in the latter portion of the 1960s. Even in cases where a building is refurbished, many developers opt to avoid the immense cost of retrofitting central systems due to immense costs and regulations. While window air conditioners haven’t changed much in appearance, Windmill modernizes the window air-conditioner with its state-of-the-art, wifi-connected units. Retailing for ~$395, the company offers a powerful, efficient unit that cools rooms up to 350sq feet; the sleek casing looks more like an Apple product than a typical box that hasn’t really evolved in decades. Windmill’s first model is available direct-to-consumer through its site and online through Home Depot; the company will be sold in PC Richard showrooms and its website soon. AlleyWatch caught up with Founder and CEO Mike Mayer to learn more about the inspiration of the business, the future expansion plans, and latest round of funding from investors that include Pentland Ventures, Untitled, Next Play Ventures, and Graph Ventures.
VAST Data Raises $83M, Tripling its Valuation in the Last Year
Storage technologies are beginning to overtake traditional HDD and hybrid solutions thanks to decreased cost, increased performance capabilities, and increased reliability. As computing needs become more sophisticated, data centers are evolving to meet the growing demand for infrastructure that’s natively designed to handle AI, ML, and large-scale applications. VAST Data offers managed software and storage solutions that allow enterprises to adopt all-flash architecture for their data center needs in a turn-key, reliable solution. The pandemic accelerated digital transformation for many organizations, increasing the demand for data solutions, and VAST was able to close out 2020 at an impressive $100M annual run rate (ARR). AlleyWatch caught up with Founder and CEO Renen Hallak to learn more about the company, future plans, and latest round of funding led by Tiger Global.
Ergatta Raises Another $30M for its At-Home Rowing Platform That Makes Fitness Competitive
90% of Americans who exercise regularly say they will continue at-home workouts even after gyms fully reopen. The convenience of rolling out of bed combined with a growing number of options to exercise at home has led consumers to splurge on sophisticated at-home fitness equipment. Ergatta provides an at-home connected rowing machine and subscription service that incorporates interactive gaming elements to provide a full-body workout. From a 17.3-inch interactive screen, rowers can choose a personalized experience based on their goals. The Ergatta Rower, which retails at $1,999 with an additional $29/month subscription fee, satisfies the needs of those who are interested in building a results-driven workout routine that’s competitive without having to participate in classes. AlleyWatch caught up with Cofounder and CEO Tom Aulet to learn more about the experience of launching at the onset of the pandemic, the company’s impressive traction, latest round of funding from investors that include Advance Venture Partners, Greycroft, Fifth Wall, Gaingels, and Hans Tung.
Unlocking the Future: Latch Announces SPAC Merger at $1.56 Billion Valuation
Sometimes you just know in the first meeting… For all the deep relationship-building with founders, market sizing, competitive analysis, and other diligence work we pride ourselves on doing, sometimes you just know. Primary Venture Partners GP Brad Svrluga shares some insight in working with Latch from the seed-stage.
The Year of the SPAC and What it Means for Hardware
A record 219 companies went public through this fundraising vehicle that uses a reverse merger with an existing private business to create a publicly-listed entity. This accounted for more than $73 billion dollars of investment, providing private equity startups a new outlet to raise capital and provide shareholder liquidity.
Parsec Raises $25M to Ensure You Can Connect to Any Computer in the World Remotely
Remote working has become the new normal but for some professions, having access to the powerful computing systems found at the office is difficult to replicate. Parsec is a platform that allows users to remotely access virtual machines and their powerful PCs from any device without any noticeable latency. The company got its start in gaming, where it was popular with gamers that wanted to play on the go, but since the pandemic, the technology is being used by animators, game developers, engineers, or anyone that needs enhanced processing power remotely. AlleyWatch caught up with Cofounder and CEO Benjy Boxer to learn more about the impact the company’s technology has had on working remotely, the company’s expansion plans, and latest round of funding from investors that include Andreessen Horowitz, Makers Fund, Notation Capital, NextView Ventures, and Lerer Hippeau.
Levels Raises $12M for its Biowearable Device that Monitors Glucose in Real Time
Forget about wearing your Apple Watch to track your health. Levels is the biowearable that provides real-time feedback on how your diet and activities directly impact your health. Through continuous glucose monitoring, which has traditionally been reserved for those with diabetes, the company is on a mission to address the rising rates of metabolic dysfunction in the US by monitoring the effects of your food choices. Levels currently has a waitlist of 44,000 people. AlleyWatch caught up with founders Casey Means MD Josh Clemente, Sam Corcos, David Flinner and Andrew Conner to discuss the importance of metabolic health, the company’s plans to expand the team across engineering, operations, and marketing, and recent funding round from investors that include A16z, Marc Randolph, Dick Costolo, Michael Arrington, and Matt Dellavedova.
Ergatta Raises $5M to Fuse Rowing Machines with Competitive Gaming to Improve At-Home Fitness
“Investors don’t like hardware, and rowing can be perceived as a niche interest. We had to respond to concerns like ‘what if Peloton copies your content,’ and manage the difficulty of effectively demo-ing our product given that it’s a large piece of hardware and COVID-19 made transporting the rowers a bigger challenge.” Learn more about how Tom Aulet of Ergatta, a connected fitness startup that offers elegantly designed in-home rowing machines with a gamification element, was able to successfully raise $5M for the company during the pandemic from investors that include Greycroft and Techstars.
Lululemon Acquires Mirror for $500M to Move into Hardware
Lululemon, the Vancouver-based athleisure company, has agreed to acquire NYC-based Mirror, the connect fitness system for $500M in an all-cash transaction.
Mutable Raises $1.5M to Disrupt Edge Computing with its Marketplace
This edge computing solution maximizes underutilized capacity bringing in new revenue for server operators while also delivering a better internet experience. Find out how Mutable does it…