US-based smart home automation technology provider SmartRent landed $32m on Wednesday in a series B round featuring real estate investment trusts Essex Property Trust and UDR.
The round was led by private equity firm Bain Capital’s venture capital arm, Bain Capital Ventures, and was filled out by commitments from real estate investment holding company Starwood Capital and Real Estate Technology Ventures, the VC firm also known as RET Ventures.
Founded in 2017, SmartRent has built a smart home automation platform that allows property managers and renters to manage the internet-of-things devices in their properties.
The system is connected to smart devices such as plugs, light bulbs, thermostats, locks, leak sensors and voice assistants and can help the user monitor their energy usage, set up a schedule for their operation and create access credentials for their guests.
The company has installed more than 40,000 units and has another 66,000 it has agreed to install this year. The proceeds from the round will go to developing its platform for use in large-scale deployments.
Fred Toni, the former CEO of real estate investment trust Invitation Homes, has joined SmartRent’s board of directors in conjunction with the round. RET Ventures led a $5m series A round for SmartRent in November 2018 that increased its total funding to $10m, having led its $1.5m seed round in July the same year.