K4Connect raises $1.9M in seed funding

Startup K4Connect, which is taking its Internet-of-Things technology to senior living facilities, has raised $1.9 million in seed funding.

“I think we have the right product. We have the right technology. We have the right team,” said CEO and co-founder Scott Moody. “Now it is the time to move quickly.”

The Raleigh company plans to use the money to support the debut of its first product.

“It gives us the opportunity really to accelerate what we’re doing,” Moody said.

Investors in the round of funding announced Monday include: two Silicon Valley venture capital firms, Sierra Ventures and Better Ventures; North Carolina-based home improvement chain Lowe’s; Florida’s Stonehenge Growth Equity Partners; and individual investors.

K4Connect has developed a software platform that can seamlessly connect numerous devices, regardless of their manufacturer and the wireless technology they use, and control them through a single application.

The company is initially focusing on senior living facilities and in August announced it landed its first contract, a $1.4 million deal to install its technology in 10 new assisted living and memory care communities that Signature Senior Living is planning to build in Pennsylvania. The technology aims to enrich the lives of seniors and at the same time help managers of those facilities run them efficiently and effectively.

Stephen Morton, the Triangle-based president and chief operating officer of Signature Senior, told The News & Observer in August that K4Connect’s product, K4Community, is “an amazing tool” and is attractively priced. Morton – the co-founder of Southern Assisted Living in Chapel Hill, whose 40 senior living communities were acquired in 2006 – participated in K4Connect’s seed funding.

K4Connect also is conducting pilot programs in two Triangle senior living facilities owned by out-of-state companies and expects to add between two and four more pilot programs by the end of the year, Moody said.

K4Connect has 13 employees today and is hiring.

“We have three openings on our website and have plans to add three more,” Moody said.

Moody, an N.C. State University graduate, returned to the Triangle after the company he co-founded in Florida, AuthenTec, was acquired by Apple for $356 million in 2012. Sierra Ventures and Stonehenge also were investors in AuthenTec.

This story was originally published October 12, 2015 at 11:01 AM with the headline "K4Connect raises $1.9M in seed funding."