Josh.ai Raises USD 11 Million in Series A Round of Financing

Similar to Siri or Google Now, the Josh programming language is built to support natural language voice commands. This includes greetings, questions, instructions, and more

Fremont, CA: Home automation startup Josh.ai raised USD 11 million in a Series A funding round from undisclosed ventures to boost its hands-free interface hardware and software for the home, which uses privacy-focused artificial intelligence technology. While home automation setups can cost anywhere between USD 25,000 to USD 500,000, Josh.ai provides these services for a much cheaper rate. The startup bills its platform as a premium, privacy-centred alternative to what Amazon, Google, or Apple offer, with minimal data sent to the cloud.

“We set out to be purely in software development, but we realized we were getting stuck as a software company integrating with Echo and others,” said Josh.ai CEO Alex Capecelatro. “Building hardware allowed us to go a lot deeper into privacy. Now, it lets us not go into the cloud for much of anything. Everything runs on the microprocessor.” Similar to Siri or Google Now, the Josh programming language is built to support natural language voice commands. This includes greetings, questions, instructions, and more. Also, Josh is constructed to control and connect any smart device, from any device.

Josh.ai professionally installs a central control system in homes that are 5,000 square feet and more extensive and integrates with operations around the house, such as lighting, music, air conditioning or heating, audio/visual, security and appliances. The company's platform allows users to control devices in unique ways like turning on speakers with a watch, changing the temperature with a phone, shutting off lights from a desktop, and much more. The company's initial focus is on the smart home sector and envisions growing into a more general-purpose AI.

“All of the commands are based on context,” Capecelatro said. “For instance, if you say ‘turn it up,’ it will look at what it might refer to and what you’ve said recently. If a lightbulb is at 50 percent, it will likely make it brighter. We've also been stringing mobile commands together for years. Google is only just starting to catch up to that now." One of the significant differences between Josh.ai and its competitors is that Josh Micros and the accompanying voice assistant are not sold directly to consumers. Josh.ai sells them wholesale, and they are an option for people hiring home builders or utility installers.

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