When Kevin Hartz’s security system didn’t alert him as an intruder rang his doorbell and tried to enter his San Francisco dwelling late one evening, the serial entrepreneur determined present options weren’t adequate. His co-founder Jack Abraham had skilled related frustrations at his Miami Seashore 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 dwelling security system for tech elites. The idea resonated in Bay Space circles, the place crime had turn out to be 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 navy and legislation enforcement personnel.
However a yr later, Sauron continues to be very a lot in improvement mode — a actuality that its new CEO, Maxime “Max” Bouvat-Merlin, acknowledged candidly in a current interview with information.killnetswitch.
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 basic questions: which sensors to make use of, how precisely the deterrence system will work, and when the corporate can realistically get merchandise into prospects’ houses.
The reply to that final query? Later in 2026 on the earliest — a major delay from the unique timeline.
“We’re within the improvement 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 totally different elements — our concierge service, our AI software program working on servers, our good cameras — are constructing blocks coming collectively in a plan we simply put in place very not too long ago.”
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Nonetheless, Bouvat-Merlin sees placing parallels between Sauron and Sonos, which each goal rich prospects first, depend on word-of-mouth progress, and mix advanced {hardware} with subtle 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 matters he was occupied with when beginning Sonos had been precisely the identical matters we’re discussing at Sauron.”
Each firms confronted the identical strategic questions: Begin with super-premium prospects or mass premium? Skilled set up or DIY? Construct every part in-house or companion with an ecosystem? “We’d make totally different selections, however the questions are very related,” he stated.
The security downside
Bouvat-Merlin says he was drawn to Sauron by each the mission and a possibility to unravel an actual buyer downside. “Securing folks’s houses is vital, however I additionally just like the deterrence side — altering folks’s minds earlier than they make a foul choice and get into bother,” he stated.
His analysis confirmed that market leaders in premium dwelling security have small market shares and destructive Internet Promoter Scores. “Individuals are not proud of their options at present,” he stated. “There are such a lot of false positives that when legislation enforcement is known as, they don’t reply as a result of they assume it’s a false alarm.”
The corporate is focusing on prospects “the place security and security is a significant concern” — folks like Hartz. The plan is to begin with this premium phase, set up a fame for supporting demanding shoppers, then increase to what Bouvat-Merlin calls “mass premium.”
The issue (that’s nonetheless taking form)
So what precisely is Sauron constructing? The reply continues to be evolving. The providing begins with digicam pods containing a number of sensors — “40 cameras and various kinds of sensors, probably LiDAR and radar, probably thermal,” Bouvat-Merlin stated. These pods connect with servers working machine studying software program for pc imaginative and prescient, all linked to a 24/7 concierge service staffed by former navy 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-about embody 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 automobiles circling neighborhoods a number of occasions, and figuring out threats at every stage.
“The extra upfront we’re with deterrence, the extra we are able to persuade folks that is the mistaken home to rob and the mistaken choice 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 might do, however we’re such a small firm,” he stated. He added that, larger image, the main focus is on rising the ecosystem by way of partnerships slightly 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 just 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 be certain that we’re displaying progress and explaining how we’ll use further 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 major checklist of potential shoppers, he stated, due to work by Sauron’s three founders, which embody 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 be certain 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 potential whereas driving profitability.”
The surveillance state query
Facial recognition and privateness issues loom massive 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. Once 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 also be being thought-about for figuring out automobiles circling neighborhoods a number of occasions. “How can we assess if that’s a risk? The ex-military and ex-law enforcement workforce 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. Dwelling security market is fragmented. ADT leads with roughly 18% market share, with rivals holding small items. “Lots of firms began as conventional security firms and are attempting so as to add tech,” Bouvat-Merlin stated. “We’re it from the alternative angle — we’re a tech startup in San Francisco bringing know-how to this market.”
Sauron can also be showing on the scene as issues rise about crime among the many most rich. Latest high-profile incidents embody a November armed theft on the dwelling 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 a number of robberies in San Francisco and different main U.S. cities, typically at gunpoint. I don’t suppose the world is getting safer — there are most likely extra disparities between folks on the prime and backside of the wealth spectrum. We see anxiousness from potential shoppers who’re desperate to get their houses secured.”
Nonetheless, a lot stays unsure about Sauron’s path ahead. The corporate should finalize every part from sensor configurations to manufacturing places. (Bouvat-Merlin talked about probably beginning within the U.S. for proximity and management, then shifting to extra inexpensive places as quantity grows.)
It should additionally decide how you can serve prospects in numerous settings, from estates with perimeters to dense city residences, whereas sustaining premium service high quality.
For now, Bouvat-Merlin says he’s centered on listening to his workforce, 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.
