Kara Swisher

Recent Posts by Kara Swisher

Yves Behar’s “Smart” Lock Startup August Raises $8 Million

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August, the home automation startup that makes a “smart” lock that uses virtual keys, said it has raised $8 million to bring the device to market next spring.

If you are talking about the Internet of Things trend, this is that.

The San Francisco-based company’s Series A round was led by Maveron, who invested along with Cowboy Ventures, Industry Ventures, Rho Ventures and SoftTech VC. The funding follows on a $2 million seed round that included angel investors such as Matt Mullenweg, Mark Pincus and others.

August was co-founded by well-known tech designer Yves Behar and entrepreneur Jason Johnson.

The lock was, in fact, debuted at the 11th D: All Things Digital conference in the summer. It is a Bluetooth device that works with a mobile application to “send virtual keys to anyone you choose to have access to your home,” the company said.

As part of the investment, Maveron’s David Wu will join the August board.

Here’s the video of the demo at D11:

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