Two startups at Grand Canyon University’s Canyon Ventures are growing up and out of the business accelerator.
LittleBird and HomeKey Systems Inc. are experiencing significant growth and attracting investments, prompting a need for new, larger headquarters in the Valley.
LittleBird, which has 45 employees, recently relocated to a 9,000-square-foot leased space at 10210 N. 25th Ave, Suite 100, in north Phoenix. Founded in 2018, LittleBird is a smart technology platform for multifamily properties that includes a mobile app, web portal, smart home hardware and access control system. Residents can use their smartphones to open gates, access amenities, unlock their doors, control lighting, submit maintenance requests and communicate with neighbors.
“We've had so much success over the last couple of years. We wildly expanded our footprint at GCU, where we were busting at the seams,” said James Archer, vice president of marketing and customer success for LevelUp, the parent company of LittleBird.
LittleBird has moved its engineering, project management, IT, technical support and marketing departments to its new space. The company’s other divisions — software, testing, product management, human resources and finance — will be moving in this week, Archer said.
“At which point, almost all of our product development and business operations will be happening here,” Archer said.
While LittleBird has attracted investments, it declined to disclose funding specifics.
“We are doing well. We have product out in the market and have installations across the country,” Archer said. “We are continuing to grow and expand. We are still early stage, but likely we will be able to hit the breakeven point within the next year or so.”
HomeKey Systems Inc. also expects brisk year
Phoenix-based HomeKey Systems, which makes a smart home maintenance management system used by owners, builders and home improvement professionals, was a Venture Madness 2021 winner in the consumer category.
Following the win, HomeKey experienced tremendous growth and landed venture capital investments. It plans to expand its workforce to more than 40 people by the end of the year, Shane Ettestad, HomeKey's co-founder and CEO, said.
“It was time for us to grow up, so to speak,” Ettestad said. “We need our own space and private offices.”
HomeKey is now occupying 3,000 square feet in The Department coworking space, at 1 N. 1st St. in downtown Phoenix. The company will continue to hire GCU students, Ettestad said.
"This is going to be the largest growth year yet,” he said. “We are in the midst of raising $3 million and we closed about half of that. We’ll be going national with multiple homebuilders this year.”
The idea for HomeKey was sparked after realizing that homeowners lacked information about their properties — such as parts, service history and paint colors — making it a challenge to perform simple home maintenance tasks.
HomeKey’s platform contains a proprietary QR code that homeowners can scan to track more than 280 items for properties, along with providing documentation on those items and when to schedule maintenance.
“It makes it a very simplistic experience that saves homeowners time and increases the value of their homes,” Ettestad said.
When homeowners sell their properties, maintenance records and other pertinent information is passed along to the next owner via HomeKey's platform.
“From a traction standpoint, our technology is being installed in every home that Lennar builds in Arizona,” Ettestad said. “We’ve had significant growth not only in Arizona, but other regions with many other builders in Georgia and we are nearing expansion in Texas right now.”
Ettestad said operating the company from the Canyon Ventures was beneficial to its growth.
“In addition, we had access to bright students we could hire at reasonable rates in all different types of focus, depending on their degree,” he said.
‘A valuable recruiting tool’
Canyon Ventures, which opened in 2020, is a business accelerator that offers companies rent-free space and is directly connected to Canyon Angels, an angel investment organization founded by entrepreneur Tim Kelley. The accelerator is home to 30 startups, which employ more than 100 GCU students.
“The idea was threefold,” Robert Vera, director of Canyon Ventures, said. “We wanted to give our students practical real-world, paid experience, allow them to build a professional network and make sure the companies here get access to a talent pool.
“From a recruiting standpoint, our students are leaving here with experience and they are getting job offers from other companies that are much higher than entry level,” Vera continued.
Canyon Ventures is a valuable university recruitment tool as students touring GCU are often inspired by the accomplishments of companies based out of the business accelerator, Vera said.
“They see students their age starting really successful companies and they want to be part of it,” Vera said.
Canyon Angels has provided more than $6 million in funding to some 60 companies over the past five years. Most are Arizona-based companies and seven are in the Canyon Ventures space.
“We provide the ecosystem support and resources, including capital and mentoring, to grow these companies and push them out into the West Valley and Phoenix,” Vera said.
"We want to make sure we are growing companies, and participating and leading the effort in economic development,” Vera continued. “We want to house them, incubate them here and, at some point, we move them out like HomeKey and LittleBird.”
