Smart lock creator OpenApp raises $1.3 Mn in pre Series A round

Smart lock app OpenApp has picked up $1.3 million in its pre-Series A round led by Unicorn India Ventures and KARMSEVAN Fund.

Existing investors Axilor Ventures and Vembu also participated in the round.

KARMSEVAN Fund is an electronics, ESDM focussed fund run by Karnataka Innovation Technology Venture Capital (KITVEN) that has Rs 175 crore worth assets under management and has a portfolio of about 40 companies.

KITVEN comes directly under Karnataka govt, which makes OpenApp a government recognized startup.

Analysing the need in the market for an organised platform for smart locks to heighten security levels in firms, Siddhesh Keluskar, Rajshekar Jenne and Gotama Gowda had founded Open Appliances in 2015.

So far, the company has raised $1.8 million till date. Earlier, it had raised $550k in November 2017 from Axilor Ventures and Kumar Vembu, Zoho co-founder, in a seed round.

OpenApp lets people manage their locks remotely, whereby they can open or close the locks via a mobile application. Moreover, it also notifies the user via the application whenever a lock is opened or there is any threat. These smart locks in themselves are Bluetooth or GSM enabled.

Operational in Asia and Africa, the company claims healthy traction and a global appeal, as per the press release by the company

With the new funds, it plans to expand into the aforementioned geographies. It expects to deploy 100k devices across the two continents by the end of the year, claiming that around 50k are already deployed.

Further, it intends to invest the new money in Research and Development, developing the software access platform, and in launching 2 new smart devices by December 2019.