Alarms are not very effective when your dog is the only one home to hear them.
Ryan Margoles, co-founder of Notion, discovered this upon coming home to find his carbon monoxide alarm blaring, caused by a fixable furnace problem, and his new golden retriever puppy, Apollo, in distress.
Margoles knew that there had to be better way to connect alarms to Wi-Fi, allowing people to be notified of any potential problems in their home without having to be there.
“We set off on this journey to create that experience for people both through hardware, through mobile apps and through data analytics."
“It’s an easy, logical step,” Margoles said. “Your smoke alarm is going off. You want to know about it whether you are home or not.”
Denver-based Notion was founded in 2014 by Margoles and Brett Jurgens, childhood best friends. Their idea started with just smoke and carbon monoxide alarm detection, but after focus groups, surveys and responses from friends and families, Margoles and the Notion team discovered people were also curious about things such as leak detection, doors opening and the arrival of children and other visitors to their homes. Additionally, the team found out that 76 percent of homes had no monitoring at all.
“We set off on this journey to create that experience for people both through hardware, through mobile apps and through data analytics,” Jurgens said.
The resulting product was a group of sensors users can place around their house. These devices, which come in starter packs of three or five, are covered with seven different sensors that can be programmed in said app to alert users of different things happening in their home. These different alerts include smoke or carbon monoxide alarm going off, a door or liquor cabinet opening or even a water leak.
Users can register their devices' locations on the Notion app and then assign a focus for the devices. Then, users can adhere the sensors to various spots around the home; they stick on walls with an adhesive strip and are possible to relocate and reprogram. Users can set their entire home up in under 15 minutes, according to Margoles
“There is an incredible service that we can provide to people that allows them to have the right information at the right time,” Jurgens said. “It allows you to be present while you are on vacation. It allows you to not have to worry about your mountain home while you are at work.”
Jurgens said the majority of users come through partnerships Notion has with multiple insurance companies, such as the Travelers Company and American Modern Insurance Group, at a discounted rate.
These aren't the only high-profile partnerships Notion has participated in. The company works with several smart home companies, such as Nest and IFTTT, for new features (like temperature recognition and multi-room control) and has partnered with HomeAdvisor, the marketplace for home repair professionals, to immediately connect homeowners to vetted plumbers following a Notion-detected leak.
To date, the company has raised $15.7 million, with its most recent fundraising round, a 2017 Series A, bringing in $10 million.
Looking ahead, Jurgens said the Notion team hopes to be able to use more weather data. That way, the sensors could alert users if it’s about to start raining, allowing them to close open windows or garage door and protect their home and valuables from rough weather.
