4Home snags $500K for universal home remotes in software form
4Home, maker of software dashboards capable of remotely controlling all of the electronics and appliances in your home, has raised $500,000 in convertible notes, according to VentureWire. As we’ve reported before, its technology allows users to turn on their dishwashers and turn off their coffee makers from work. It also provides a central hub for home media, including all movies, music and even web video — giving users the ability to access any of it from their computers or their televisions via a customizable interface.
While 4Home doesn’t market its software directly to homeowners, it does sell it to telecom service providers like AT&T and Comcast, who then deliver it to their customers. In doing so, it hopes to push them away from the usual triple-play offering of phone, internet and TV, toward a holistic multimedia strategy. But it’s not alone in doing so. With its Xbox-based Media Center, Microsoft is hoping to break down the wall between TV and computers as well — as is Apple with its AppleTV. A company called Prodea Systems is also working on a similar concept.
Based in Sunnyvale, Calif., 4Home previously raised $2.85 million in a first round of capital from Pond Ventures in 2006.
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About the Author, Camille Ricketts
Camille is the lead writer for GreenBeat. She came to VentureBeat from Google where she worked on its traditional platforms team, particularly in TV. Before that, she was a reporter for the Wall Street Journal in New York and London. Follow her on Twitter at @camillericketts, and follow VentureBeat on Twitter at @venturebeat.