Contactless Smart Home Control Startup ButterflyMX Raises $50M
Contact-free property management tech startup ButterflyMX has raised $50 million in a growth equity funding round led by JMI Equity. ButterflyMX offers touch-free smart intercom systems that connect building, elevator, locker, and other entry controls to voice and smartphone controls, a growth industry especially in the wake of COVID-19 and raised health consciousness.
Vocal Property Control
ButterflyMX started off selling video intercom systems that eschew integrated wiring into a building. The power cord, door strike, and internet are all they need. Managers and residents set up accounts and can use a unified mobile app to interact with people at the door, letting them in. Residents can connect a voice assistant to the app and use vocal commands to open the door to the building, the mailroom, or anywhere else the property manager connects to the app. The voice commands can also be used to buzz visitors in, or the owners can send visitors or regular service providers a QR code or PIN to get in instead. The video intercoms log each entry by time with a photo stored in the cloud for a year to ensure they can spot any unauthorized entries.
“Since we first introduced the smart video intercom to the world in 2015, we’ve been installed in more than 6,500 buildings and have opened over 100 million doors,” ButterflyMX CEO Aaron Rudenstine said. “Our customers love using our video intercom for property access so much that they asked us to extend that access experience beyond their front doors. This new round of funding will allow us to finally provide the real estate industry with the only unified property access solution designed to simplify access into and throughout an entire building.”
Talk Without Touch
ButterflyMX raised $35 million last year during the height of the pandemic. Finding ways to engage with the world with minimal touching of surfaces saw a spike in popularity that is not subsiding. Picovoice’s elevator control by voice debuted last year for similar reasons and it’s not alone in seeing the value of this kind of tech. Even Cerence, best known as a voice AI provider for cars, is also developing voice controls for elevators after deciding they fit under its remit of working on ‘moving vehicles.’ The hospitality industry is another arena where an app or voice control can handle entry and other access needs, with a rush to install tech developed by Amazon, Google, and the now-acquired Volara in hotels all over the world.
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