A company known as Smartthings have provided a platform that enables developers and makers to build smart and connected devices, an interactive and mobile user experience for consumers to manage and install apps into their physical world to make it behave more intelligently, and unique combinations of SmartThings and SmartApps packaged to solve real world problems, out of the box, with no professional installation required.
They have announced a Seed Round and Developer/Maker Contest to Drive an Open ‘Internet of Things’ totaling $3 million funding round lead by First Round Capital and including SV Angel, Lerer Ventures, CrunchFund, Max Levchin, Yuri Milner’s Start Fund, David Tisch, A-Grade Investments, Chris Dixon, Vivi Nevo, Alexis Ohanian, Loic Le Meur, Martin Varsavsky, Kal Vepuri, Ryan Sarver, Jared Hecht, Steve Martocci, Emil Michael, Aaron Levie, Zorik Gordon, and Nathan Hanks.
They are looking for developers and makers who will create a breathtaking array of connected devices, intelligent and learning applications, and breakthrough innovations.
The judging panel for this contest includes First Round Capital, SV Angel, Lerer Ventures, Matt Williams, EIR at Andreesen Horowitz, Loic Le Meur, David Tisch, and Alex Hawkinson, CEO of SmartThings.
Winners will receive cash ($100,000 overall including $25,000 each for the top app and top new connected Thing), investor exposure, media coverage, manufacturing and design consulting and be featured across the SmartThings customer base and ecosystem. You can learn more about and sign up for the competition at build.smartthings.com.
We expect this to be the first of many competitions driving an explosive growth in innovation on the open physical graph. Thank you so much for your continued support. Together we will create an open physical graph and a smarter world!
According to Alex Hawkinson, the CEO of SmartThings “ Smarthings vision is a big one. But it’s clear the world is ready. The entire Le Web conference in Paris last is based around the Internet of Things, and new projects aiming to connect our physical world are emerging almost daily. It will take a significant ecosystem and the participation of many of these innovators to realize the full potential of the physical graph” Join the contest if you can.
The first Step to take: Register to be a part of the community of designers, makers and developers over on Build.SmartThings.com, and be sure to join the ‘Developer and Maker Contest’ group. We’ll keep you posted on Contest timing, how to register your project, the fine print, and help you connect with others to build a great team.
Watch An hour talking about The Internet of Things (sensor networks) with Smart Things Founder
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6z_qDQ4N9xs