Top Digital Lock Startup Openapp Acquires Kochi Based IoT Company SectorQube

NEW DELHI:
Openapp, India’s number one digital lock startup, has acquired SectorQube, a Kochi-based company with IoT expertise, in an all-stock deal that values the company at Rupees 17.8 Crore, to roll out a range of affordable and elegant digital locks specifically designed for the country’s middle-class families. India’s market size for digital locks, growing at a CAGR of 36.15 percent, is projected to reach Rs 8,914 crore by 2025.

“Our D2C business currently has a ratio of 45:55 between metros and Tier3-4 towns. We have made the acquisition to be able to exclusively create products for Bharat while taking on the incumbents and traders head-on,” said Gotama Gowda, CEO of Openapp. As part of the deal, the co-founders of 11-year-old SectorQube, funded by Unicorn Ventures, Maker Village(IIITMK) and Ritesh Malik, will become a core part of the growth strategy of Openapp. “Increasingly, all homes are going to get digital locks as traditional door locks will soon become cumbersome and obsolete. In a world evolved with Smartphones, NFT and EVs, carrying a physical key everywhere is an unnecessary hassle. Openapp, as a new-age security brand, is building IP in this sector so that it can make security accessible and affordable to the common man.” said Ritesh Malik, Founder Innov8 & Founder & Trustee Plaksha University.

“Openapp is a tech-first startup that will soon launch products with AI/ML capabilities. We have become the only company outside of America and China, equipped with the capability to create totally indigenous end-to-end IP for smart locks” explained Gowda, a serial entrepreneur who was featured in Forbes 30 under 30 Asia list. “We are very bullish about the deal. With our 11 years of expertise in the development of smart products for companies like IFB, Godrej, V-Guard etc. we are thrilled about building smart products from Openapp that will touch 10 million homes in the next 5 years.” said Nibu Alias, CEO of SectorQube.

The company has already started getting a lot of inquiries from various builders and resellers across the country for its new product range. “This gives us market validation. Massive internet penetration has increased awareness about smart home products. The trend is here to stay. Services like broker mangement, property management and other such value added services will be enabled through our app in the near future.” Gotama pointed out.

Through this acquisition, Openapp has strongly positioned itself as a startup that is disrupting and century old industry dominated by incumbents in the traditional locking business like Godrej, Ozone, Yale and Dorset. Bengaluru based Openapp, an ISO certified company was launched in 2015 and funded by Axilor, Unicorn India Ventures, Zoho Family Office and Karsemven Fund. The company offers digital locks for Homes in three categories — fingerprint enabled, built-in bluetooth and GSM-enabled smart locks, which solve the problems of theft, pilferage and key management.