Imagine your alarm waking you up in the morning to your favorite song. Then your coffee maker automatically starts brewing coffee, and your refrigerator recommends some breakfast recipes based on what you have. This can easily be considered the essential idea behind smart homes.

Automation and connectivity driven by the Internet of Things, or IoT, will continue to make our lives easier and more comfortable. Meanwhile, these advances will also save energy and cut costs. The most innovative startups are shaping the future of our homes in every aspect.

Security

Smart home startups are innovating their safety solutions. A smart security system often uses smart sensors that detect presences, motions, contacts, fire, and more. We’re also noticing that companies are giving homeowners more autonomy and freedom to build their own security systems. Users can personalize their setup, installation, and devices to be monitored.

DEN’s SmartStrike is a wireless, intelligent door strike. It allows homeowners to remotely unlock their doors through their phones, and it’s claimed to be compatible with all types of door frames on the market. The strike is practically invisible when installed into the door frame. This makes it more secure and much more difficult to bypass. The startup showcased its product at CES 2021 and took home the title of Innovation Awards Honoree.

Wyze offers a smart home monitoring system that’s customized to homeowners’ personal needs. Customers can choose different subscription plans, sensors, and accessories. Whether they want to monitor climate, entry, motion, or leaks, there will be a sensor specifically designed for it. The system requires a Wyze Sense Hub, which works like the “brain” of the entire system. When a sensor is tripped, homeowners will get notified on their phones. The real-life human agents, who are available 24/7, will get them emergency help immediately.

Energy and sustainability

Smart home innovations are helping homeowners better manage their energy usage. Startups are working on improving energy efficiency while creating a comfortable home environment for residents.

Having clean air is one of the most basic but crucial things for a healthy living environment. Aura Air provides a comprehensive air quality solution for indoor spaces. Using the Aura Web Platform, Aura Air tracks air quality in real-time, collects data, and analyzes what factors control current air quality. And it offers customized insights for homeowners to know their air quality better.

An easy and smart lighting system means you don't have to be an electrician to customize the lighting in your home. Deako Lighting’s Smart Dimmer and Smart Switch give lighting more possibilities for customization. Homeowners can personalize their lighting environment based on their lifestyle. The products are also easy to install, saving homeowners from the pain of hiring help. With a smart lighting system, you can set a vacation schedule for your lights before you leave for a trip, automate your lights to turn on and off with the sun’s schedule, or create the perfect ambiance for a get-together.

"Despite the obstacles that IoT technology startups face (i.e., financing, prototyping, distribution, various connectivity protocols, etc.), advancements in this domain are the foundation for digitizing most industries and our daily lives. These startups are developing connectivity and data infrastructure to bridge the gap between physical and digital environments. The development of IoT technology, together with the rise of decentralized networks, has us at Plug and Play exhilarated and always on the look for the next disruptive company." - Janis Skriveris, Senior Ventures Associate, PNPTC

There is a variety of thermostats out there, but Themo claims to be the first smart thermostat that checks the electricity price when heating your home. With Themo’s intelligent consumption profile, homeowners can use more renewable energy. They will also pay up to an average of 32% less for electricity. Homeowners can view their real-time price information, room temperatures, and device status on their smartphones. They can also set and adjust temperatures in different rooms and time frames.

An intelligent irrigation system can help you build a healthier green lawn while saving water. Homedigy’s GeoDrops is an advanced irrigation system with a built-in AI engine. Its sensors can measure soil type, plant root depth, and irrigation infiltration characteristics, helping the system make smarter decisions on an irrigation schedule. The sensors work together with the AI engine to save water usage and allow homeowners to control irrigation remotely.

Sometimes water can cause trouble - when there's a devastating water leak or flood. That's when a water leak detection solution becomes essential for your smart home system. LeakSmart is a "smarter" leak detection system. The system detects leaking or freezing pipes, a worrisome sump pump, or a damp basement in your home. Its WIFI sensors send notifications to homeowners' phones for leak detection, temperature, humidity, and sensor movement, making home protection convenient and prompt.

Healthcare and wellness

A growing number of startups in the healthcare sector are working to offer personalized, smart solutions right at your home. They are redefining healthcare and wellness with innovations around emergency detection, illness diagnosis, and fall detection, among others. With some of the technologies, homeowners can get health measurements simply by sleeping at night or going to the bathroom.

Imagine getting a health assessment by just spending time on your toilet. Cavaseat is a toilet seat that tracks your gut health, heart health, fitness, and more. Cava’s AI-assisted stool scanner analyzes your daily waste. And the Cava app offers diet and nutrition recommendations based on the analysis. The product helps manage chronic conditions and detect early signs of more serious conditions. It keeps track of your blood pressure, heart rate, hydration, body fat percentage, and weight. This makes it easier for you to achieve your fitness goals.

Smart home innovations are also addressing seniors’ wellbeing. One example is Cherry Home, a remote monitoring solution to support older adults living at home. Cherry Home uses AI to avoid or respond to incidents and monitor behavior patterns for unusual behavior. It frees caregivers from being present 24/7, but it still keeps them in the loop in case of an emergency.

Bill management

Smart bill management systems allow us to set up home bills more effortlessly. They help us avoid the hassle of paper bills and automate the entire process.

Homeshift is a UK company that allows homeowners to set up and manage their energy, internet, council tax, and water bills all in one place. Besides helping customers manage their bills, Homeshift is also an Internet and energy supplier. It provides green and 100% renewable energy sourced from UK generators.

If your utility bill seems unreasonably high, a major reason could be that your home space is not fully optimized. This means that there might be unused electricity or inefficient energy consumption. Sapient is a plug load management and analytics system that helps save your utility bill. It reduces costs and environmental impact by automating optimal power delivery to every device in your home. In addition, Sapient also detects wasted space, identifies redundant equipment, and provides insight into the comfort of household members.

Connectivity

Is a smart home really "smart" without the connection and communication between different devices? Connectivity technologies allow home appliances to work together like an entire ecosystem. Various controllable solutions, such as wireless protocols, wireless mesh networking, and communication technologies, often achieve this.

Futurehome offers the perfect solution for homeowners who want to take their entire home under one control. Pairing all the devices with a smart hub, Futurehome creates a powerful network in your home. Homeowners can control everything in an app on their phones, from electronic locks to room temperatures and lights. The system detects fire and water leaks and notifies homeowners when their family members arrive home.

Smart home technologies are making us rethink how we live and manage our households. Homeowners are getting more autonomy and personalization with these technologies, from security and energy to healthcare and connectivity. Plug and Play’sIoT vertical is at the forefront of smart home trends. By working together with many innovative startups in the industry, we expect to make the future of home arrive faster than you think.