When it comes to smart thermostats in the U.S. market, the recently Google-aquired Nest has taken most of the market, but now a German startup is looking to take their European competition stateside after raising $13.6 million in financing.
Tado recently completed a successful Kickstarter campaign to bring their smart thermostat to market, which is designed to turn just about any air conditioning or heating unit into a smart one. The $200,000 raised through crowdfunding was enough to bring Tado into their home country of Germany, but the more recent wave of backing now has them setting their eyes on the growing market in Europe and the U.S.
In an interview with Fox Business, Tado CEO Christian Deilmann explained how he sees his product being able to compete against Google’s Nest. “On the cooling product, we are not direct competitors at this point in time, since Nest is controlling combined air systems for heating and cooling. Tado connects window units and mobile units – it’s different systems that we connect.”
The Tado thermostat relies heavily on the usage of their specialized app on smartphones to better control the operation of the owner’s AC or heating unit. When the last person leaves the house, Tado recognizes the house is empty and is able to adjust the temperature to an away setting. Thanks to geo-location functions on smartphones, as soon as someone gets close to arriving home, Tado switches the system back into gear to ensure a comfortable temperature.
While there is no official launch date set for Tado’s entrance into the U.S. market, homeowners using AC or heating units not compatible with Nest may soon have a way in to the smart thermostat world.
Sources: Tado, Fox Business
Photo: Tado
