Participated · Series D · Feb 2020

Plume builds a cloud‑based platform and mesh Wi‑Fi pods for carriers to improve broadband connectivity in homes and layer on managed smart‑home services. The company partners with broadband providers to sell hardware plus software bundles (for example HomePass with Virgin Media in the U.K.) and plans to expand beyond residential into small business and industrial IoT. Plume said it will use new funding to continue building out its software platform, sign and service more carrier deals, and roll out additional managed services via an app update later this year. The startup has expanded its service set beyond basic Wi‑Fi to include access control, device security, motion sensing and experiments in IOT, health, energy management and home security. CEO and founder Fahri Diner framed the moves as leveraging Plume’s foothold in the connected home while avoiding enterprise campuses. Operating metrics cited in the article show rapid growth: Plume recently added 13 million households in two quarters to reach 35 million homes, 1.2 billion devices on its platform, and 240 carrier customers globally. Plume provides a mesh Wi‑Fi platform (OpenSync) and a suite of white‑labeled smart-home services — branded HomePass — to broadband providers. Its platform includes cloud-based operations tools (Haystack and Harvest) for carrier support, analytics and churn insights. Plume says its technology reaches about 22 million homes and OpenSync covers some 26 million access points, and the company reports roughly 170 carrier customers. It also holds about 170 patents and patent applications underpinning its mesh and software-defined network approach. Plume partners with hardware makers and has numerous carrier customers (some of which have become strategic investors, including Comcast, Charter, Qualcomm, Belkin, Cablevision, Liberty Global and Shaw Communications). The company is based in Palo Alto and emphasizes expanding services beyond connectivity into security, parental controls and other monetizable home services. Plume is a Palo Alto, California-based smart home services company that provides a Consumer Experience Management (CEM) platform powered by OpenSync as a cloud SaaS offering. The platform enables the curation, delivery, support, and management of personalized smart home services and is hardware-independent. OpenSync is an open-source framework that integrates into a broad set of silicon and platform SDKs to connect devices to the Plume Cloud. Plume's solution has been adopted by over 30 communications service providers including Comcast, Charter, Armstrong, Bell, Shaw Communications, Virgin Media, VOO, Melita, and J:COM. Financially, Plume closed an $85M financing that included $60M in Series D preferred equity and $25M in debt, bringing total equity funding to $127M. As part of the financing, Charter Communications' Andrew Ip joined Plume’s Board of Directors. Plume Design develops Adaptive WiFi™, a self-optimizing system driven by the Plume Cloud control plane that dynamically adapts to changing network loads and interference. Its hardware includes Pods—access points placed in every room—to extend coverage, and the Plume Agent can be integrated into third-party gateways, set-top boxes, OTT players, IoT devices and consumer electronics. Led by CEO and co-founder Fahri Diner and based in Palo Alto, the company offers a combined cloud and device solution for ISPs and consumer hardware partners. The company secured $37.5M in funding and has raised over $63M in total equity funding to date. Plume intends to use the capital to accelerate deployment and integration of Adaptive WiFi in ISP networks and third-party hardware, introduce new products, and expand in Silicon Valley and Europe. Tyson Marian of Comcast joined Plume’s board as part of the financing.

Participated · Equity · May 2019

Phyn develops Phyn Plus, a smart water assistant that continuously monitors a home’s entire plumbing system to detect leaks, conserve water and prevent costly damage. The device uses patented machine learning and measures tiny changes in water pressure 240 times a second to identify issues such as freezing pipes, pinhole leaks or bursts, and can remotely shut off the main water supply. Phyn Plus also provides granular water-usage detail by fixture via an app and supports Amazon Alexa voice queries and shutoff commands. The company is expanding its market presence beyond the U.S. and Canada after a European launch in Finland, Sweden, France and Spain, with Germany and other countries planned. Phyn is partnering with local governments on conservation efforts, including a rebate program with the Southern Nevada Water Authority and a commercial pilot with the City of Santa Fe that installed units in restaurants. The company is led by CEO Ryan Kim and has raised funding to support ongoing research, new product development, U.S. growth and further global expansion. Phyn develops Phyn Plus, an intelligent water monitor that attaches to the main water line and combines high-definition pressure sensing with machine learning to detect leaks and plumbing issues. The device can automatically shut off the main water supply to prevent costly damage. Phyn Plus is priced at $850 and will be sold in the U.S. exclusively through the Uponor Pro Squad network of trained plumbers and water specialists. The company is a joint venture between Uponor (50%) and Belkin International (50%) and is led by President and CEO Jyri Luomakoski and CFO Maija Strandberg. Phyn is preparing for commercialization of its debut product in late spring and plans to use recent funding to accelerate market penetration and scale operations. The company is based in Torrance, California.