When Kevin Hartz’s safety system didn’t alert him as an intruder rang his doorbell and tried to enter his San Francisco residence late one evening, the serial entrepreneur determined current options weren’t adequate. His co-founder Jack Abraham had skilled comparable frustrations at his Miami Seaside residence.
In 2024, they launched Sauron — named after the sinister, all-seeing eye from “The Lord of the Rings” — to construct what they envisioned as a military-grade residence safety system for tech elites. The idea resonated in Bay Space circles, the place crime had turn into a continuing matter throughout and after the pandemic, regardless of San Francisco Police Division statistics displaying property crime and murder charges declining final yr.
The startup raised $18 million from executives behind Flock Security and Palantir, protection tech traders together with 8VC, Abraham’s startup lab Atomic, and Hartz’s funding agency A*. It got here out of stealth precisely a yr in the past, promising to launch within the first quarter of 2025 with a system combining AI-driven intelligence, superior sensors like LiDAR and thermal imaging, and 24/7 human monitoring by former army and legislation enforcement personnel.
However a yr later, Sauron continues to be very a lot in growth mode — a actuality that its new CEO, Maxime “Max” Bouvat-Merlin, acknowledged candidly in a current interview with TechCrunch.
After practically 9 years at Sonos, together with a stint as chief product officer, Bouvat-Merlin took the helm of Sauron simply final month. He’s spending his first days on the job finalizing elementary questions: which sensors to make use of, how precisely the deterrence system will work, and when the corporate can realistically get merchandise into clients’ houses.
The reply to that final query? Later in 2026 on the earliest — a big delay from the unique timeline.
“We’re within the growth part,” Bouvat-Merlin stated. “You’ll see a phased method the place we get our resolution to market as a stepping stone. All of the completely different elements — our concierge service, our AI software program operating on servers, our sensible cameras — are constructing blocks coming collectively in a plan we simply put in place very lately.”
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Nonetheless, Bouvat-Merlin sees placing parallels between Sauron and Sonos, which each goal rich clients first, depend on word-of-mouth progress, and mix advanced {hardware} with refined software program. “I had lunch with John MacFarlane, the founding father of Sonos, a number of weeks in the past,” Bouvat-Merlin stated. “All of the subjects he was fascinated with when beginning Sonos have been precisely the identical subjects we’re discussing at Sauron.”
Each corporations confronted the identical strategic questions: Begin with super-premium clients or mass premium? Skilled set up or DIY? Construct every little thing in-house or accomplice with an ecosystem? “We’d make completely different choices, however the questions are very comparable,” he stated.
The safety downside
Bouvat-Merlin says he was drawn to Sauron by each the mission and a chance to unravel an actual buyer downside. “Securing folks’s houses is necessary, however I additionally just like the deterrence facet — altering folks’s minds earlier than they make a foul determination and get into hassle,” he stated.
His analysis confirmed that market leaders in premium residence safety have small market shares and unfavorable Web Promoter Scores. “Individuals are not pleased with their options right this moment,” he stated. “There are such a lot of false positives that when legislation enforcement known as, they don’t reply as a result of they assume it’s a false alarm.”
The corporate is focusing on clients “the place security and safety is a significant concern” — folks like Hartz. The plan is to begin with this premium section, set up a status for supporting demanding purchasers, then develop to what Bouvat-Merlin calls “mass premium.”
The product (that’s nonetheless taking form)
So what precisely is Sauron constructing? The reply continues to be evolving. The providing begins with digital camera pods containing a number of sensors — “40 cameras and various kinds of sensors, probably LiDAR and radar, probably thermal,” Bouvat-Merlin stated. These pods hook up with servers operating machine studying software program for laptop imaginative and prescient, all linked to a 24/7 concierge service staffed by former army and legislation enforcement personnel.
“These folks perceive patterns,” he stated. “They’re good at serving to us mature our machine studying resolution and prepare our system to detect bizarre behaviors.”
The deterrence system stays considerably obscure. Choices being thought of embrace loudspeakers, flashing lights, and different strategies. However Bouvat-Merlin emphasised that deterrence ought to start earlier than somebody enters a property, detecting when houses are being surveilled, noticing vehicles circling neighborhoods a number of instances, and figuring out threats at every stage.
“The extra upfront we’re with deterrence, the extra we will persuade folks that is the incorrect home to rob and the incorrect determination to make,” he stated.
As for the drones talked about when Sauron first took the wraps off its plans final yr, Bouvat-Merlin declined to say a lot. “These are roadmap conversations. I don’t need to go too deep at this level as a result of there are such a lot of issues we may do, however we’re such a small firm,” he stated. He added that, greater image, the main target is on rising the ecosystem by way of partnerships somewhat than reinventing the wheel.
Timeline and enterprise mannequin
With fewer than 40 staff, Sauron plans to rent simply 10 to 12 extra in 2026. The corporate will even start working with early adopters later in 2026, with a Sequence A fundraise deliberate for mid-year.
“Elevating a Sequence A isn’t about elevating as a result of now we have to — it’s as a result of we need to,” Bouvat-Merlin stated. “I need to make sure that we’re displaying progress and explaining how we’ll use additional funds to speed up progress, [including to] launch our first end-to-end product, drive buyer adoption, and speed up the roadmap.”
The corporate has already attracted a big listing of potential purchasers, he stated, due to work by Sauron’s three founders, which embrace roboticist and engineer Vasumathi Raman. “We count on the technique initially to be phrase of mouth, then develop in another way over time.”
However Bouvat-Merlin is cautious about progress. “I need to make sure that we develop sustainably and preserve the expertise and repair premium over time,” he stated. “I need to handle rising pains as a lot as attainable whereas driving profitability.”
The surveillance state query
Facial recognition and privateness issues loom giant for a surveillance-heavy product. Bouvat-Merlin outlined one method: a trust-based system the place owners grant entry to particular folks. “I granted you entry to my home, so now you’re within the trusted group. Whenever you come, I detect it’s you and also you’re allowed in. Everybody else is an unknown individual,” he stated, portray an image of a possible state of affairs.
License plate detection can be being thought of for figuring out vehicles circling neighborhoods a number of instances. “How will we assess if that’s a risk? The ex-military and ex-law enforcement staff will probably be actually good at serving to mature our machine studying resolution,” he stated.
Both means, Bouvat-Merlin is assured within the alternative forward due to Sauron’s method. “A number of corporations began as conventional safety corporations and are attempting so as to add tech,” Bouvat-Merlin stated. “We’re taking a look at it from the other angle — we’re a tech startup in San Francisco bringing know-how to this market.”
Sauron can be showing on the scene as issues rise about crime among the many most rich. Latest high-profile incidents embrace a November armed theft on the residence of tech traders Lachy Groom and Joshua Buckley in San Francisco’s Mission District, the place $11 million in cryptocurrency was stolen throughout a 90-minute ordeal involving torture and threats.
“We see people who find themselves rich attracting criminals,” Bouvat-Merlin stated. “We’ve seen numerous robberies in San Francisco and different main U.S. cities, typically at gunpoint. I don’t assume the world is getting safer — there are most likely extra disparities between folks on the high and backside of the wealth spectrum. We see nervousness from potential purchasers who’re desirous to get their houses secured.”
Nonetheless, a lot stays unsure about Sauron’s path. The corporate should finalize every little thing from sensor configurations to manufacturing areas. (Bouvat-Merlin talked about probably beginning within the U.S. for proximity and management, then shifting to extra reasonably priced areas as quantity grows.)
It should additionally decide how you can serve clients in several settings, from estates with perimeters to dense city residences, whereas sustaining premium service high quality.
For now, Bouvat-Merlin says he’s targeted on listening to his staff, constructing credibility, and finalizing the technique he’s putting in. “I don’t demand that individuals belief me — I need to present them why they need to.”
The corporate expects to share extra particulars about its merchandise later subsequent yr.
