GERMANTOWN, Md., Nov. 18, 2019 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ -- Whisker Labs announced today it has secured growth capital led by State Farm Ventures to accelerate the development and distribution of Whisker Labs' Ting sensing technology. Ferguson Ventures (the investment arm of Ferguson Enterprises) and existing Whisker Labs investors also participated in the financing. Bob Marshall, Whisker Labs' Co-Founder and CEO, states that "This funding lets us continue our mission of protecting families and homes from electrical fires and realize our vision for Ting as a "fitness tracker for the home."
At the heart of Whisker Labs' Ting service is a super-smart DIY sensor that monitors a home's entire electrical network to help prevent electrical fires, which are often the most devastating fires to impact homes and families. One Ting plugged into any outlet in the home detects loose connections, damaged wires, or faulty appliances that are often the root cause of these horrible fires. Beyond fire safety, Ting provides meaningful engagement and information to homeowners on conditions and events of high relevance, such as power outages, weather warnings, and even notifications that their air conditioning or other essential appliances may be about to fail.
"State Farm's mission is to help our customers manage the risks of everyday life, and Ting aligns perfectly. Gone are the days of just reacting to disasters experienced by our customers. We want to be proactively engaged with our customers and prevent losses from ever occurring," said Michael Remmes, Vice President of State Farm Ventures. "We have been working with Whisker Labs for the past three years and have witnessed first-hand the evolution of Ting. We have been impressed with the team and product and look forward to continuing our work together."
Aging structures, widespread growth in connected devices, and access to electricity by 6.2B people have made electrical fire prevention a rising global concern. While fundamentally different, the closest market analog to Ting for electrical fire safety applications is the Arc-Fault Circuit Interrupter (AFCI), incorporated into the U.S. electrical code in 2010. The global market size for AFCIs is $4B and expected to grow to $5.6B by 2025. Because Ting 'sees' faults earlier in their formation across the entire home, it is suitable and cost-effective to install in all homes regardless of age or size, covering the whole house no matter where it is plugged in.
"Ting provides an incredible business opportunity for our trade contractor customers and gives them the information they need to deliver proactive, valuable, and engaging service to homeowners," said Blake Luse, Director of Ferguson Ventures. "This investment aligns well with our goal of bringing innovative solutions to our trade contractor customers to help them run a better business and be well-positioned for the future. We look forward to continuing our journey with Whisker Labs and helping them scale using Ferguson's industry-leading position, national footprint, and deep customer relationships."
Since being introduced in 2017, Ting's performance has far exceeded expectations, preventing residential electrical fires without a single false alarm across thousands of homes. The Ting sensor platform has evolved well beyond fire prevention, with the potential to detect faults from anything connected to a home's electrical network. Further, a network of Ting sensors can monitor the electrical utility grid with unparalleled precision, detecting faults that sometimes lead to devasting wildfires like those experienced in California.
"We are thrilled to continue our work with State Farm and Ferguson to accelerate the adoption of Ting's smart sensing and deep learning to deliver safety and peace of mind to our customers," said Bob Marshall, Co-Founder & CEO of Whisker Labs.
ABOUT STATE FARM VENTURES
State Farm Ventures focuses on investing in startups developing technologies and products to fulfill customer needs in ways they wouldn't think possible with their insurance company. State Farm continually looks to evolve toward the future by finding new ways to provide more value to customers.
ABOUT FERGUSON VENTURES
Ferguson Ventures invests in startups driving and enabling industry-changing innovations in the commercial and residential construction, remodel, and services industries. Ferguson Enterprises is the nation's largest distributor of residential and commercial plumbing supplies and pipe, valves, and fittings (PVF) and a diverse distributor that spans multiple businesses including HVAC/R, waterworks and industrial. In the past 65 years, Ferguson has grown from a local distributor to an $18.4 billion dollar company with more than 1,400 locations and over 27,000 associates nationwide. For more information, please visit fergusonventures.com.
ABOUT WHISKER LABS
Whisker Labs is passionate about developing smarter solutions to hard problems, leveraging expertise in signal processing, machine learning, and artificial intelligence. Whisker Labs is leading the next wave in fire prevention technology with Ting, an intelligent sensor that monitors a home's electrical network to detect electrical hazards that often lead to the most devastating and catastrophic fires. Our Ting Fire Operations Team coordinates a national network of independent licensed electricians to assess and mitigate risks identified by Ting. While on the job preventing fires, Ting serves an expanding role as a fitness tracker for the home, smartly monitoring and alerting homeowners to meaningful events that impact everyday life. For more information, please visit tingfire.com.
SOURCE Whisker Labs, Inc.
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