Virtual key app Akiles gets support from Renta, Housfy, ABApartment

This article was written and published in Spanish and has been translated into English via Google Translate. Click here to read the original article.

If turning on the kitchen light or lowering the blinds is a task that we have already delegated to voice assistants such as Siri or Alexa, why not do the same with house keys? This is what three entrepreneurs and former Verse workers thought, who combined their wisdom to create Akiles, a hardware and software system that wants to become the world's largest door opener without keys in its assets. The start-up, which has already seduced real estate groups such as Renta Corporación or Forcadell, which is in its capital as a shareholder, is now preparing to close a second round of financing in which it will attract one million euros, as explained by Nicolás Salame, CEO of Akiles.

The dynamics to open a door with Akiles is simple and focused on assets such as homes, offices and coworking spaces or tourist apartments. The user, after downloading the app, adds the virtual key to his ‘wallet’ (where Akiles keys are stored) and once near the lock, unlocks the door and opens it. “It is a 100% safe system that can be modified according to needs,” explains Salame.

"You can limit access to a lock by location, you can give a temporary key and you can even have only one key and open the door and close it from anywhere in the world in seconds," explains the manager. This last option is especially interesting for domestic employees who do not want to give them permanent access, or to distributors who can access the receiver of your home to deliver an order, something that already occurs in markets such as the United States.

Akiles's proposal goes further, with a recurring installation and maintenance service that allows customers not to worry about anything. In the first phase they focus on the corporate market with smart locks in residential developments, coworkings, corporate offices or tourist apartments.

Focusing on the residential business, Akiles signs an agreement with the developers to install its system on all floors of a specific promotion. Once the contract is fulfilled, it is the private customers who decide whether to renew the service with Akiles or stop operating with a virtual key and use a traditional lock. “We install a small tool attached to the traditional lock that responds to the stimuli of the app: when the user activates his key in the app, the lock opens as if it were a goal of a lifetime,” explains the CEO of Akiles , adding that at any time the user can remove it from his door and open with a normal key.

"In a second phase of the business plan we will go for the end customer, who can hire our service as if it were Netflix or Spotify," says the CEO. Currently, the average price paid per lock is around 10 euros.

Akiles has shareholders as the drivers of Refruiting, a fruit delivery company in offices. Also present in the capital of the company are Guillermo Llibre (Founder of GymForLess and Housell), Rubén Ferreira, linked to Lanai Partners, the Forcadell real estate consultant and private shareholders who have participated in a round managed by the crowdfunding platform The Crowd Angel, where he captured more than 360,000 euros.

Now, Akiles is preparing for a new leap forward in its expansion. Currently, it operates in cities such as Barcelona and Madrid, although in the short term it wants to have a presence in Seville and Valencia, as well as in the international market in major European capitals such as Rome, Milan, Paris or London. "In addition, we are about to close our second round of financing, in which we will get close to one million euros," says Salame.

This article was written and published in Spanish and has been translated into English via Google Translate. Click here to read the original article.

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