There seems to be a lot of M&A activity in the smart home space these days. Following the acquisition of Ecobee by Generac, Level Home has announced the acquisition of Dwelo, which comes as the former also announces a $100 million Series C round funded by Cox Communications and Walmart. The new round takes Level’s total fundraising to $171 million. So the acquisition is the company is first.
This is the company’s first purchase. Walmart was one of two major investors (together with Lennar) in Level Home’s $71 million funding round when it emerged from stealth in 2019. Level Lock, a smart lock meant to seem like dumb luck with a simple installation that works with HomeKit, was the company’s main product at the time. With an iPhone or Apple Watch, the “first invisible smart lock” may open.
When Dwelo, a smart home solution for renters, raised $4.9 million two years ago, we reported about it. Its service is aimed at apartment inhabitants — or rather, apartment managers and owners. It effectively allows users to operate a wide range of gadgets throughout their building’s various flats.
Level CEO John Martin stated in a statement, “By welcome Dwelo to Level, we can now offer a seamless experience of mindfully built hardware with a strong SaaS platform, providing residents tremendous command, convenience, and new powers to personalize their home.” “We created Level with the goal of rethinking the smart home, and with Dwelo, we’re bringing property owners and tenants the next-generation experience.”
The brand merger looks likely to play out as a kind of vertical integration, likely bundling Level Locks as part of Dwelo’s landlord-focused product offering. Apartment buildings are a local step for a growing smart lock company in a crowded space. These sorts of devices have more traditionally been focused on homeowners, who have to deal with less red tape upon installation. Building owners, in addition to providing the benefits of the latest connected home technologies, are likely to have their own motivations for desiring remote control of door locks.
