John Martin had just driven with his entire family through a snowstorm to a vacation house at Lake Tahoe when he realized he forgot his keys.
After waiting 45 minutes for the locksmith, Martin, who had been an executive at Nokia and Apple, had an idea for a better lock, one that he could control with his phone. Martin called it a “founders’ moment” in an interview with CNBC.
Three years and $71 million in funding later, that lock is now available to buy from Level Home, a 50-person company Martin founded along with Ken Goto, who had also worked at Apple.
Level Lock is a $250 deadbolt enabled with Bluetooth and Wi-Fi. It’s essentially a computerized lock that users can control through an associated app. For example, users can unlock their doors through Bluetooth with their phones, or send a text message with a pass to a guest if they need to get into their house.