German Startup Yetu Raises $8 Million To Create Open Standards For Smart Homes

Yetu AG (not to be confused with Yeti ARGGHH!) has raised $8 million in Series A capital from Bilfinger Venture Capital and KfW. The company, which appeared at Disrupt in Berlin, aims to connect all in-home devices using the same standard, creating a sort of full-home operating system.

Founded by a Deutsche Telekom Chief Product & Innovation Officer, Christopher Schläffer, the company is beginning by creating a simple smart home platform for end users and will then move on to the commercial segment of the market.

Schläffer doesn’t want to retrofit the average home. Instead, he wants to scrape the data available and use it in novel ways.

“We use web apps which work irrespective of operating system on any screen at home,” he said. “We are not using sensors or actors for smart home applications but rely on algorithms and big data in order to gather information and increase ease of use.”

Using a single piece of hardware and an open platform, Yetu can watch your Internet connection, energy usage, and heating in a single interface. It’s like a dashboard for your home, allowing you to shut things down when not in use, access data about energy usage, and understand where your resources are going. It will use open APIs so embedded systems can talk directly to the Yetu system. Schläffer sees the company as taking a big chunk of the “entertainment, home automation, energy management, security or ambient assisted living” markets, bold statement for a company yet(u) so young. Hopefully the $8 million will help it along.