Smart security camera startup, Smartfrog, has announced another raised funding of €20 million. The startup has built a full smart home software and hardware, which could bring the company entering new markets such as the elder care.
Smart security camera startup, Smartfrog, has announced another raised funding of €20 million. The startup has built a full smart home software and hardware, which could bring the company entering new markets such as the elder care.
Smartfrog, based in Dublin and Berlin, has raised total €28 million since founded about one year ago. Its existing investors include e.Ventures, Target Global and Jean-Pierre Wyss, the co-founder of industrial IoT chipmaker u-blox.
According to Smartfrog, it now has a 60-employee team and customers across 130 countries.
Most of the home security camera service in the market sells camera hardware bundling with a mobile app to allow users monitor their home situation. Smartfrog, however, doesn’t require users to buy any camera device. The service utilize the cameras on user’s non-used smartphones or laptops and turn them into the home security monitors.
After downloading the Smartfrog app, the user will get instructions to set up the cameras through their home Wi-Fi. Once the camera on the old smartphone or laptop is set up, the user can then see the real-time video from their smartphone via the app.
Smartfrog offers the recorded video to be stored in its cloud space for 30 days. Users can choose to watch the historic videos from the last four hours, 24 hours, 7 days or 30 days. The recording software also integrates with motion sensor, which will send notifications to user’s smartphone as something at home makes noises or moves.
The app supports more than one camera connected at the same time. If so, users can watch multiple real-time recording from one single app. And all video files are encrypted via SSL standard, according to Smartfrog.
Smartfrog’s app service is free of charge, but some advanced feature costs money. The free entry characteristic helps the company to target emerging markets with lower budgets on building connected home environment.
The company also has a camera hardware product, Smartfrog Cam. It works with the same app, but offers more features than using own camera devices, such as free cloud recording and storage of the last four hours footages. The company charges more cloud storage and longer recording history for a monthly subscription fee.
The Smartfrog Cam has not yet available in the market, but will start shipping soon.