The Sacramento Inno Awards recognize some of the year's most talented and successful players in the tech and startup community. This year, the Business Journal recognized companies, products, and leaders in the innovation space. Bekonix is the company behind one of this year's Innovations of the Year.
Bekonix Inc. is a Folsom-based company offering a no-code platform to help people or companies build smart hardware and software for internet-connected devices.
The company’s visual interface allows user to drag and drop access to controllers, lights, light arrays, sound players and other inputs and outputs without any of the associated coding or programming.
“It is a different way to think about doing something awesome in tech,” said CEO Daniel Kaye said. “We are changing who gets to do it.”
By whom gets to do it, he means almost anybody. The Bekonix platform package of hardware and software handles the heavy lifting of writing code to connect devices, as well as how and when they turn on.
Even big companies with lots of employees might not have the employees or the talent to dedicate to working on a prototype, mockup or even an actual product, he said. “We are democratizing technology.”
The platform even allows users to create a mobile app without writing any code.
The platform has access to off-the-shelf microcontrollers, which can be paired with LED lights and strips, along with various sensors, switches and other devices. The platform also can control outputs like motors, pumps and relays, as well as a variety of sound players.
“Our customers are coming up with really creative products. It’s exciting when customers come up with things we never thought about,” he said.
The company last fall released its platform for Mac and Windows machines. Clients can develop customer-facing products, or they can use the platform to create a prototype that can then be developed by engineers. Customers can be do-it-yourself entrepreneurs or enterprise clients.
Founded in 2020, Bekonix has availed itself of the local tech community and its supporters. The company was in the second cohort of the Growth Factory Accelerator program in Rocklin, and its $1.3 million seed round investment last year was led by Folsom-based Moneta Ventures.
The company has revenue, though the private company doesn’t disclose what it is, Kaye said. It has eight employees now, and it is hiring. It is now investigating seeking more investment money to grow the team.
