The Smart Home market in India has been witnessing tremendous growth in terms of usefulness as well as volume. Home automation has often been perceived as a business of rich people. It was true, as the cost of automation was not at all suitable to the pockets of the large population in the country. However, even the people who could have easily afforded the automation solutions, were not integrating it on a large scale.
The situation has turned around completely. Over the previous couple of years, we have witnessed a rising trend of automation in the country. With the increasing need for comfort and ease along with rising disposable incomes of individuals living in metro cities, the market space for smart homes has been on the growth path.
According to “India Smart Home Market Outlook, 2021” the smart home market in India has grown significantly in the past three years. Starting from 2014 to 2017, this only makes sense because of the dire need for these new technologies to make lives easier. And that has pushed companies to make their devices 10x better as well as cost-effective.
The Beginning of Cloudblocks
One such Delhi-based company is Cloudblocks, which has a complete home automation range in India. It comes with advanced functions like voice control at affordable rates. From locks and lights to speakers and thermostats. Technology has made smart homes a reality with just the press of a button. While Amazon Alexa & Google Home is ruling the space, we can see that comfort and convenience have become the key for smart homes. Many homegrown companies have started venturing into home automation.
Harmeet Singh and Archit Gupta started Cloudblocks, a home automation start-up in 2015 in Delhi, India. They aimed to come up with energy-saving solutions and to provide affordable home automation for the customers. The company claims that the USP that helped Cloudblocks grow in this competitive market is economical prices of its products.
Products offered by Cloudblocks
The company has a range of products including Blocks Duo, Blocks Quadro, Blocks Hexo, Blocks Octo, Blocks Power. These products help in regulating heavy appliances like air-conditioners, geysers etc. through a single switchboard. Cloudblocks also offers a unique door unlock solution called ‘Blocks Bolt’. It facilitates you to unlock your door from literally anywhere in the world.
Its Blocks Shades is a curtain controller. Autocut is a three-level water indicator which automatically turns on/off the motor based on the water level, to prevent overhead tanks from overflowing.
Founders’ approach
Harmeet, a B.tech graduate from Rayat Institute of Engineering and Information Technology. He currently handles the complete tech-end at Cloudblocks. Harmeet says that he got the idea, when he wanted to control the lighting in his house from the comfort of his bed. With a R&D background, he started working on a solution that could save electricity & regulate, analyse and control the home appliances.
Archit has worked with Octro and also with some early-stage startups as a project manager. He holds a B.tech from HMR Institute of Technology and Management, New Delhi. At Cloudblocks, he is responsible for planning marketing campaigns, building strategies for dealer distributor on-boarding, competitive analysis etc.
Future of this Home Automation start-up in India
The team is now building a new product called ‘Automation’. The product will essentially work on its own, considering the room and outside temperature, humidity and the temperature you feel comfortable in.
It will then iterate itself to fit your needs better, with the assistance of AI and machine learning (ML). It claims to bring down electricity bills by 30 to 35 per cent and reduce air conditioner usage. Currently bootstrapped, Cloudblocks is in talks with some potential investors to raise their funds in order to scale and expand its distribution system.
