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Belkin partners up for Phyn, which will make devices to help you use less water

Lulu Chang
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phyn water waste screen shot 2016 05 28 at 12 30 41 pm
It may cover 70 percent of the planet, but water is in short supply these days. Now, there’s a brand new company looking to solve the seemingly endless water crisis, and its name is Phyn. A joint effort between electronics maker Belkin International and plumbing supplier Uponor, the new company will embark upon a mission “to provide an intelligent water solution that protects families and their homes from leak damage, enables mindful conservation, and enhances household water usage with automated and anticipatory controls.” In short, it’s the smart home approach to water.

“Water is a precious and vital natural resource, but there has been a fundamental lack of technology dedicated to protecting and preserving it — especially for home users,” said Chet Pipkin, founder and CEO of Belkin. “With the creation of Phyn, we’re bringing water up to speed with the rest of the smart home, helping not only to protect consumers’ homes and wallets, but also do our part to solve the very real challenges facing our global water supply.”

The $40 million venture seeks to address the double-edged problem of water shortage and water waste by way of technology. Phyn claims that the company will be able to provide consumers with a “simple, reliable solution for home users to gain invaluable insight into their household water usage, reduce water waste, mitigate leaks and save money.”

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The company emerges from Belkin’s former Wenmo Water technology, and this entity will still serve as the base upon which future Phyn products are built.

“With years of research, technological advancements and field trials under our belt, we’re excited to partner with Uponor to help accelerate the mass scale commercialization of this technology,” said Ryan Kim, former vice president of engineering at Belkin and CEO of Phyn. “With our rich background in consumer IoT, sensor and machine learning, coupled with Uponor’s expertise in water delivery infrastructure, our dedicated team is ideally positioned to scale and deploy an intelligent water solution that sets a new bar for reliability, accuracy and intuitive user experience right out of the gate.”

The company will base its research and development lab in Seattle, and work alongside engineers from the University of Washington. “The joint venture is perfectly aligned with Uponor’s strategy of growth and represents a major step in digitalization for the company,” says Uponor Corporation CEO and President Jyri Luomakoski.  “For Uponor, Belkin is a strong global partner in water-sensing technology, and our joint target is to develop unique new products for the intelligent water market.”

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Lulu Chang
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