Tampa’s iApartments, armed with at least a $10 million investment, seeks to capture a niche in the smart home market by specializing in multifamily buildings.
There was a time, not too long ago, when the term smart home conjured up memories of the gadgets seen on cartoons back in the early 1960s and Walt Disney World’s vision of the future circa the 1980s.
While some of those gadgets have come to life — no flying cars yet, but we carry computers in our pockets and have conversations on video screens — the reality is the tools that turn a home into a smart home do simplify life for many people without completely altering the world we live in.
They make them safer. They make them more comfortable. They create an ease.
The other things smart homes do is make money for people who sell and install the technology.
One Tampa company is among those now in the business of safe homes — but its approach is a little different.
The company is called iApartments, and it was started by trio of veterans of both the technology and the multifamily home services industry.
What the company does is right in the name: it works with owners of multifamily dwellings to install features like smart thermostats, smart locks and sensors in individual units and throughout apartment buildings. These are operated through a all-in-one thermostat smart hub that controls locks, lighting and switches and is operated with a smartphone.
The idea for iApartments came from Dave Magrisso, who previously founded a company called Valet Waste. What Valet Waste did was offer concierge trash service to apartment buildings. People would — and still do — put their garbage outside their apartment door each night and it would be picked, minimizing trips to far off dumpsters. Magrisso sold the company in 2006 and it is now known as Valet Living.
Read the entire article: By Louis Llovio| Business Observer Florida