Luma raises $12.5 mln; Series A round includes Amazon Alexa Fund

Luma, the Atlanta producer of Surround WiFi for the home, raised $12.5 million of Series A financing. The round was led by Accel and reflected a “significant” investment from Amazon Alexa Fund. The additional new investors included David Dorman, former CEO of AT&T and 500 Startups. Reinvesting were Felicis Ventures, Base Ventures, BIP Capital, Relay Ventures, and Webb Investment Network. Luma said in a statement that it would use the funds to meet demand for the system, expand operations and do R&D.

Press Release

Luma Announces $12.5 Million Series A Funding from Accel and Amazon

April 7, 2016

SAN FRANCISCO & ATLANTA–(BUSINESS WIRE)—Luma, bringing the experience of Surround WiFi to the home, announced today a $12.5 million Series A led by Accel with a significant investment from the Amazon Alexa Fund. Brian O’Malley of Accel will join Luma’s board of directors. The company will use the funds to fulfill the massive demand for its flagship product, expand global operations and continue R&D on its products.

“Home WiFi has evolved dramatically over the past 10 years. We now have video streaming, cameras, garage doors and even toasters connected to our home networks, but there has been close to zero innovation in the space,” said Brian O’Malley, partner at Accel. “Luma is the first company to essentially reimagine home networking – not just by making home WiFi faster and more reliable, but also bringing a new level of awareness and security previously reserved for only the most sophisticated corporations.”

Luma is the only company to provide the three features imperative to a great home WiFi experience: speed, safety, and security. Its patented Surround WiFi technology is the highest performing home WiFi system available and the only solution to provide cybersecurity and parental controls. Announced today, Luma has sold more than 30,000 pre-orders; however, that number more than doubles if you include Luma’s early channel partner orders. Units will start to ship in June, as originally scheduled.

“Innovation in the smart home space is taking off and has the potential to make our everyday lives easier and more serendipitous than ever,” said Steve Rabuchin, vice president, Amazon Alexa. “We’re investing in Luma through the Alexa Fund because we’re excited about Luma’s vision to not only bring better and faster WiFi to consumers but to innovate on what’s possible with IoT and voice technologies.”

“We’re thrilled to have the support and expertise of Accel and Amazon,” said Luma co-founders Dr. Paul Judge and Mike Van Bruinisse. “Their expertise in voice, hardware and distribution will be vital in this next phase of Luma as we begin to ship and scale.”

Reinvestment came from existing investors Felicis Ventures, Base Ventures, BIP Capital, Relay Ventures, and Webb Investment Network. Additional new investors include David Dorman, former CEO of AT&T and 500 Startups.

Luma’s existing investors and advisors include Dr. Ian Akyildiz, professor and author of textbook Wireless Mesh Networks; Omar Johnson, CMO of Beats By Dre; Tom Noonan, co-founder of Internet Security Systems; Hans Robertson, co-founder of Meraki; Aamir Virani, co-founder of Dropcam; and Jed York, CEO of the 49ers.

Along with financing and shipping, Luma shared the addition of two key hires to the executive team. Matt Duffy, previously of Sonos and Apple, joins as vice president of supply chain, and Anil Jagarlamudi joins from AirWatch and VMware as Luma’s new vice president of engineering.

Luma is available for pre-sale through Amazon Launchpad at http://www.amazon.com/dp/B017DV1BPG.