Amazon Announces the Next Alexa Fund Recipients: Musaic and Rachio
August 27 2015 - 9:00AM
Business Wire
Musaic, maker of a high-resolution wireless
HiFi system, will work with the Alexa Skills Kit and Alexa Voice
Service to allow customers to control their Musaic devices using
their voice
Rachio, creator of an intelligent sprinkler
controller, will work with the Alexa Skills Kit to allow customers
to control their watering system using their voice
The Alexa Fund will provide up to $100 million
in investments dedicated to empowering developers, manufacturers,
and start-ups of all sizes who have ideas for how voice technology
can improve everyday life
(NASDAQ:AMZN)—Amazon today announced two new recipients of the
Alexa Fund, Musaic and Rachio. The Alexa Fund will provide up to
$100 million in investments dedicated to supporting developers,
manufacturers, and start-ups of all sizes who are passionate about
creating new experiences designed around the human voice. Musaic
and Rachio are the latest additions to the growing portfolio of
Alexa Fund recipients, and join the seven previously funded
companies announced in June. Learn more and apply for funding at
developer.amazon.com/AlexaFund.
“We’re continuing to invest in new ideas for how voice
technology can improve everyday life,” said Greg Hart, Vice
President, Amazon Echo and Alexa Voice Services. “Musaic and Rachio
are both innovative companies whose products can help customers
create a truly connected home, and with Alexa people will be able
to interact with the technology in a new way. We can’t wait to help
bring these new products to customers.”
Musaic is a high-resolution wireless HiFi system that
allows customers to listen to music in every room with exceptional
sound quality, integrate smart lighting to create and control
scenes and moods, and combine with home automation to create a
connected smart home. Musaic is building skills for Alexa enabling
Echo customers to control their Musaic system using only their
voice. Musaic is also working to be one of the first companies to
integrate with the Alexa Voice Service. Learn more about Musaic at
www.musaic.com.
“Musaic is extremely excited to be involved with the Alexa
Fund,” said Matthew Bramble, CEO, Musaic. “We make what we call
‘Smart HiFi’ because we believe there is a change coming where
audio, video, lighting, comfort-control, and security will no
longer be delivered in product silos. We feel that audio has an
extremely strong place in this emerging ‘Internet of Things,’ as it
is perhaps the most effective and compelling method of
communication with the home owner. Natural language understanding
is going to be part of the next great leap in home automation, and
we’re looking forward to creating some really exciting smart home
functionality with the Alexa Voice Service.”
Rachio is a Denver-based software and hardware company
focused on improving the water efficiency of homes. Rachio makes an
intelligent sprinkler controller that helps customers water smartly
for better results and lower costs by monitoring weather conditions
automatically, adapting to the specifics of a user’s yard, and
providing control and dashboard options through a smartphone app.
Rachio will use the Alexa Skills Kit to build new skills for Alexa,
enabling customers to ask Alexa to provide schedule updates, list
the most recent watering events, and initiate watering in a
particular pre-set zone—all by voice. It will be easy for customers
to simply say “Alexa, tell Rachio to skip watering today,” or
“Alexa, tell Rachio the flower beds need a little bit more water.”
Learn more about Rachio at rachio.com.
“Rachio is thrilled to be working with the Alexa Fund,” said
Chris Klein, CEO, Rachio. “The possibilities on how to integrate
with Amazon’s voice service are endless, and will immediately
delight and excite our customers. I can’t wait to be able to teach
Alexa skills around making outdoor watering more efficient.”
The Alexa Fund—named for Alexa, the cloud-based voice service
that powers Amazon Echo—is open to anyone with an innovative idea
for how voice technology can improve customers’ lives. Alexa Fund
investment decisions are made based on the potential for unique or
novel applications of voice technology that leverage the Alexa
Skills Kit or the Alexa Voice Service.
The Alexa Fund is also supporting the following companies with
investments: Orange Chef, Scout Alarm, Garageio, Toymail, Dragon
Innovation, MARA, and Mojio. To learn more about how these
companies are working with Alexa visit
developer.amazon.com/AlexaFund.
About Amazon
Amazon.com opened on the World Wide Web in July 1995. The
company is guided by four principles: customer obsession rather
than competitor focus, passion for invention, commitment to
operational excellence, and long-term thinking. Customer reviews,
1-Click shopping, personalized recommendations, Prime, Fulfillment
by Amazon, AWS, Kindle Direct Publishing, Kindle, Fire phone, Fire
tablets, Fire TV, and Amazon Echo are some of the products and
services pioneered by Amazon.
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