When Shark Tank helped launched Nayeem Hussain’s smart-vent start-up Keen Home, he had big dreams for the company. A new milestone toward that dream was recently achieved with the announcement that Keen will merge with Ecovent, a whole-home zoning system competitor.
In 2015, Hussain and his co-founder Ryan Fant gained backing from Shark Tank investor Robert Herjavec during their appearance on the show. That initial bet continues to pay off, even more so with the Ecovent merger.
Hussain explains: “By bringing the world’s leading smart zoning solutions together under one roof, Keen Home is poised to bring the ultimate experience in comfort and climate control to homes everywhere. ”
Nayeem Hussain’s Keen Home Started Out Small
The idea for Keen Home dates back to Hussain and Fant’s graduate school days. Fant struggled to sleep because his apartment’s air vent kept blowing hot air all over his face. Fiddling with the thermostat only made the rest of his apartment freezing.
“He thought how much more comfortable he’d be if he could control the airflow from his phone, which was lying on his bedside” says Hussain.
The pair then developed the idea to place “smart vents” in rooms that are unoccupied for most of the day, like bedrooms or dining rooms. Users can then adapt the airflow of each room according to their needs, using their phones to control the temperature of each room. This provides users with greater comfort while also saving money.
“You wouldn’t use one light switch to control all the lights in your home,” Hussain extrapolates. “So why are we using a central thermostat to control the heating and cooling needs of individual rooms?”
Keen Home technology also learns each user’s airflow preferences and adapts itself accordingly.
“Shark Tank” Launches Keen Home Success
The idea caught the attention of the producers of Shark Tank, giving Hussain the chance to pitch celebrity investors like Marc Cuban and Daymond John. Of the Shark Tank investor panel, only Herjavec was sold. He valued Keen Home at $7.5 million, one of the largest valuations in the show’s history, and invested $750,000.
That investment quickly paid off. Forbes reports that Keen Home brought in nearly $6 million in sales in the first year alone.
“Shark Tank was a great experience,” Hussain says. “We were able to raise our brand profile immensely by reaching more than 9 million viewers.”
Nayeem Hussain Envisions a Fully Integrated Smart Home
Hussain and Fant originally marketed Keen Home as a smart vent system. But they envision a fully integrated smart home. Merging with e-thermostat competitor Ecovent provides another step in that direction.
“We are still quite a few years away from living in home that will be advanced enough to adapt to our needs,” Hussain admits.
“That being said, the building blocks are already in place. With advancements in natural language processing, machine learning, and wireless connectivity and reductions in component costs, smart home tech is no longer the sole providence of the wealthy.”
