Innovation in Motion, a Dutch startup that develops smart home products, proves to be a great success in the United States. The first product of the Amsterdam based company is Slide, a system that automatically opens your curtains. As many as one-third of the orders for this Internet of Things product is from America, but the Slide is also popular in Germany, Japan, and England.
Slide is the first affordable smart home product that lets you automatically open and close your (existing) curtains, also via a mobile app. Current automatic curtain systems have to be made-to-measure for every size of curtain rails and are therefore more expensive. Slide solves this problem, with a universal system that fits (nearly) all existing curtains. Slide also works with the popular voice assistants Amazon Alexa and Google Home, that will become available to the Netherlands later this year.
Automatic curtains ensure comfort and safety
Thijs Olthof, one of the founders of Innovation in Motion, is pleased to see that Slide is an international success. The company obtains the majority of its turnover abroad. Olthof: “In this respect, the cultural difference with America arises. The Dutch choose the Slide for comfort, for example, to wake up to daylight. Americans do that for safety reasons. By opening the curtains automatically at semi-random times, burglars do not know that the residents are on holiday. ”
Scalable solution
Like Nest renewed the thermostat, and Ring the doorbell, Innovation in Motion wants to modernize other traditional markets with their smart home solutions. Not only do consumers see the benefits of Slide, but the hotel sector and health care providers also show interest in the smart home solution. Olthof: “We not only focus on the consumer market but also focus on these B2B markets: by making homes smarter with products such as Slide, older people can stay at home longer, which benefits the rising costs in care, it’s nice to see that you can also serve a social purpose in this way. ”
Launch new investment round
Innovation in Motion is about to launch a new investment round at Leapfunder. After its founding in 2016, the Dutch startup achieved an angel investment of 20,000 euros and realized a turnover of 350,000 euros in 2017. This new investment round via Leapfunder is used for the further development of the company. Slide is the first product in a line of new smart home products from Innovation in Motion.
