Hey all – so, the time has finally come and there has been a lot of work going on behind the scenes that’s taken much longer than anticipated and there’s still plenty to do.
However, I wanted to give you all a quick announcement and status of the company.
Earlier this week, we executed a contract between us and another IOT group. I thought we would be able to officially announce who it is, but they want to keep it confidential and I’m going to respect their wishes (I also have to legally lol).
Anyway, nothing will change in terms of personnel (sorry, you’re stuck with me, @EricM_Inovelli, @Courtney_Inovelli and @anon640257) and most will maintain the same positions as we had prior (Courtney will likely play a more active role in marketing as we’re outsourcing logistics). In addition, the Inovelli name will remain the same and we will still focus on lighting both in Z-Wave and Zigbee/Matter.
What you may see is a logistics change in that product will no longer be shipping from our headquarters, but rather a distribution company TBD. We are now able to utilize warehouses as well as more efficiency with shipping.
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So where does this leave us with product lines and our strategy moving forward?
Great question, part of the deal is that we now have a shared resource that will take on the COO position and responsibilities here. He brings 15+ years in the IOT industry and has an operations and business background that is much needed to help us with getting organized and back on track with manufacturers. I’m actually really excited and relieved.
We’ve been talking over the past few months on what the next few months looks like for Inovelli as well as our long term plans.
As many of you know, capital has always been a problem for us being a small company. We have great ideas and great products, but that doesn’t always translate into the cash needed to buy supply.
While we did receive a decent investment in this deal, this was more of a strategic partnership that will help us mature as a brand and will allow Eric and I to focus on what we’re good at (me = marketing, Eric = tech) and allow me to also focus more on the community and innovation rather than trying to negotiate with manufacturers, chase down sales leads, and manage the finances.
The next couple months will be very important and will determine which path we head down to gain the capital needed to really take things to the next level.
One path has us closing a very large deal that will allow us to self fund our innovation and the other path has us taking a more non-traditional route in opening up our company to crowdfunding for equity.
I was going to do this earlier this year, but I instead opted to wait for this partnership to come to fruition as I think it makes us look way more attractive.
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In the short term, we will be focusing on the launch of the Blue Series, which has taken off – I am honestly so humbled at the sales numbers and want to thank all of you for helping to create such an incredible product, but also for your support in pre-orders.
In addition, we have some opportunities in Z-Wave that will allow us to resurrect the Red Series and not only bring it back, but bring it back better than ever. Keep an eye on the forums and more importantly, keep an eye on October/November for a drop. That’s all I’m teasing for now.
Lot’s of exciting things to come and for those who have stuck by our side, thank you. It’s been extremely difficult the past year or so and your support and encouragement has meant so much to me and the team as well. It’s because of you that we were able to attract this attention and ultimately close a nice deal.
Thank you so much and any questions, I’m happy to answer!
Eric
PS - Putting this at the bottom as I know many of you will ask. Regarding the 5-Button, Fan/Light, etc – ultimately, we will be moving to a new manufacturer (our Zigbee one or another one) to get these out as quickly as possible. Part of the deal I referenced above (we’ll call it Path A) has those products in it and they need it by CES 2023, so this is our target date. I will continue to keep everyone updated, but please know it is on our radar and it is going to happen one way or another.
