Back

 Industry News Details

 
Deep Sentinel raises $7.4M to bring deep learning to home security Posted on : Apr 29 - 2017

Deep Sentinel, a home security startup, today announced that it had closed a $7.4 million Series A led by Shasta Ventures with participation from Bezos Expeditions, Lux Capital and UP2398. Founded by serial entrepreneur David Selinger, Deep Sentinel is betting that its emphasis on user experience can provide needed differentiation in the crowded space.

Over tea in the historic Palace Hotel in San Francisco, Selinger laid out the philosophy behind his latest company. Selinger believes that the nature of property crimes has changed. Without ever entering a home, burglars can cost homeowners thousands by simply nabbing an Amazon delivery resting on a front porch. This shift in behavior necessitates a shift in the services provided by home security companies.

But legacy players like ADT, founded in 1874, haven’t kept up with the times. Selinger is confident he can both expand the market and steal market share by moving the security line to the perimeter of a property rather than the perimeter of a home.

To do this, the company is producing a series of cameras powered by deep learning that can evaluate threats on a property. This is the same technology that automakers are using for self-driving cars and companies like Facebook use to identify people and objects within your photos.

Deep Sentinel wasn’t able to show us its hardware because it’s still in development, but I’d imagine it looks exactly like any other home security camera. Cameras themselves are largely commoditized, so the value that the company delivers will come from its software.

The system is designed to consume video streams and other contextual information to analyze threats facing a home. Selinger was clear in articulating that Deep Sentinel is not simply a monitoring solution, it’s designed to respond and ultimately deter criminals. This could include appropriately applied warnings or lights. The company actually considered using drones for deterrence, though Selinger now believes the technology is still too nascent. View More