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SMALL BUSINESSR emember when thetechnologicalrevolution hit thehospitality industry,and smart cards
seemingly replaced room keysovernight?
Innovation was transformingthe home front, as well,offering us the ability, forinstance, to control thethermostat and alarm system,and to turn the lights on andoff, from a remote location.
Felicite Moorman and RyanBuchert werepayingattention andthought: “Whataboutapartments?And collegedorms?”
Wouldn’ttheir residentswant so-calledsmart-homeabilities?
Wouldn’t the managers of thoseproperties want to be able tochange access to residentialunits with a few strokes on theirlaptop keyboards rather thancutting new keys or replacinglocks? Or to just as easily adjustthe heating or air-conditioningin unoccupied units?
Moorman and Buchertdecided that multifamilyresidences represented a vastopportunity in the IoT—Internet of Things — andlaunched StratIS (for StrategicImplementation and Support),a software company in EastFalls, in June 2015.
StratIS wireless systems arenow in 150,000 residentialunits in 46 states, with revenueexpected to reach $6 millionthis year.
And with the smart-citiesmovement focusing effortsworldwide on reducing energyconsumption and otherwasteful practices, Moorman,the CEO, and Buchert, thechief technology officer, arepositioning StratIS for globalimpact. They opened a salesoffice in Tokyo in October andone on the West Coast earlierthis month.
“We can help every city inthe world,” Moorman said.“There’s no border thatprohibits us. ... There’s nomultifamily building we can’thelp.”
That global ambition wasreflected recently on thechalkboard at the formermovie theater-turned-trendy
office space on MidvaleAvenue that is now home toStratIS and its sister company,BuLogics, which embeds andcertifies wireless technologyinto hardware for the IoT:
We will never influence theworld by trying to be like it.
“I don’t know that we’ll beJohnson [Controls], Siemens, orSchneider [Electric] big, but wecertainly have the capacity forit,” Moorman said, claiming thatStratIS’s sales rate is “pacingwith the largest controlcompanies in the world.”
StratIS doesn’t make doorlocks, thermostats, alarmsensors, or lightbulbs. It makesthe software that enables themto be controlled remotely, muchlike Austin, Texas-based iControl,developer of a home-automationplatform Comcast acquiredearlier this month.
“Alternatively, StratIS wasdeveloped from the start, notas a home-automationplatform, but as an IoTplatform, with a basearchitecture readily expandableto any industry, likemultifamily, and can integrateany number of devicespertinent to those industries,”Moorman said. “While weembrace the protocols used inhome automation, we invest inmultiple protocols, namelyZ-Wave, ZigBee, Bluetooth, andWiFi, collaboratively, to runour systems, giving us fargreater iterative runway.”
Despite their sharedentrepreneurial overdrive,Moorman and Buchert seemmore opposite than alike.
Buchert, 41, a DrexelUniversity alum withundergraduate and graduate
degrees in electricalengineering, is reserved and offew words. She is not.Moorman, 43, who created areal estate-related marketingcompany in Baltimore beforebecoming a lawyer, joked that
she often has to do Buchert’sbragging for him. (Calling hima “genius,” she said: “I love totalk about him.”)
A mother of three, Moormanlives near the office in a4,500-square-foot, three-story,renovated circa-1851 manse.Buchert, who is single, lives atthe office in what used to bethe theater’s projection booth.
“He is an extrememinimalist. He has to be ableto move everything, includinghis bed, in two trips in hisMini Cooper,” Moorman said,as Buchert nodded. He alsocan be found in the cockpit ofa Cirrus SR22.
With savings from stockoptions on 11 patents related tothe methodologies of 3G and4G chips, Buchert startedBuLogics in 2003. Being moreof a technical guy, “I hadalways been looking forsomeone to lead our team,” hesaid. When word got out thatMoorman was leaving GeneralElectric, where she created atraining program for emergingtechnologies, he went intorecruitment mode. He hadserved with her on at least oneindustry committee and relatedto “her approach andmethodology.”
“I saw Felicite come into themarket and within 18 monthsbecome the second most-go-toperson in the entire wirelessindustry — and the No. 1person had basically inventedthe industry 27 years ago,”Buchert said.
In 2012, Moorman joinedBuLogics, which now has eightemployees and $1.5 million inannual revenue. Identifying thedemand potential for homeautomation in the multifamilyspace, she and Buchertestablished StratIS as aseparate company. Itsworkforce of 27 is expected todouble in a year, thoughMoorman said that comes withits own set of challenges.Entrepreneurs and investorsalike note that this is a regionwith a limited pool of engineersand others with the sets ofskills needed in the tech sector.
“We’re competing [for hires]with Comcast,” Moorman said.“I mean, we’re still not flushwith cash. … We’re not one ofthose companies that can gothrowing cash around and notcount it.”
[email protected]^215-854-2466 "@dmastrull
Get SmarterStart-up sees big opportunity in multifamily residences.
At their StratIS offices, CEO Felicite Moorman and chief technologyofficer Ryan Buchert. “There’s no multifamily building we can’t help,”Moorman said of their smart software. MICHAEL BRYANT / Staff Photographer
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StratIS creates software programsthat control in-home locks,thermostats, alarms, and lights.
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