September 24, 2015 — We have a lot of news to share, and we want to make sure that you’re hearing about all the latest Roost happenings directly from us. We’ve got a few things on the list, so let’s jump right in.
Series A Investment
We are very excited to share that this month we officially announced a Series A investment round of $5.5 Million. The specific details: the round was led by RPM Ventures and joined by USAA (yes, one of the top Insurance providers in the US). Existing investor, DCM Ventures—as well as Center Electric and StartGarden—also participated in the funding round.
So what does all this mean for you? It means that we’re on to something that we (and hopefully you) believe is truly special, and this round of Series A funding is an exciting next step in the journey of Roost and the Roost Smart Battery.
Insurance Partnership
We also announced a solution to help insurance companies increase home safety and minimize insurance losses in partnership with Roost. On the insurance-company side, smart-home technology can be incredibly helpful for providing early warnings of danger to improve home safety. Being that we believe the Roost Smart Battery is the first in a new class of affordable, easy to install breakthrough products, the insurance industry now has a real, achievable path to lower claims as well as increase customer engagement and satisfaction.
This also means validation from insurance companies that Roost is a relevant partner, with a compelling and important proposition. Simply put, the loss and risk of fire damage is lower when you have Roost installed in your home smoke alarms. Insurance companies are recognizing this and there’s a lot of exciting potential ahead for us.
Recent Coverage
Just to keep you in the loop…
TechCrunch: Roost Raises $5.5M To Retrofit Dumb Gadgets Into Smart Gadgets
Insurance Innovation Reporter: USAA Backs Roost, Producer of Smart Battery for Smoke Alarms
Insurance Networking News: USAA Invests in Smart Smoke Detector Battery
Pre-orders & Delivery Timing
Lastly, we also wanted to provide an update on our production status. After our first pilot build in early July, we discovered a few modifications that required necessary changes to the tooling. Unfortunately, the result of this is a production delay of approximately 30 days. The impact is that pre-order shipment timing has moved to the end of October. As we get closer, we will send out updates with the specifics.
In the meantime, pre-orders are still open if you’re looking to secure your Roost Smart Batteries. Simply head over to our online store or pre-order via Amazon.
As always, from all of us here at Roost, thanks for your ongoing patience and support.
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