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When Kevin Hartz\u2019s security system failed to alert him as an intruder rang his doorbell and tried to enter his San Francisco home late one night, the serial entrepreneur decided existing solutions weren\u2019t good enough. His co-founder Jack Abraham had experienced similar frustrations at his Miami Beach residence.<\/p>\n
In 2024, they launched Sauron<\/a> \u2014 named after the sinister, all-seeing eye from \u201cThe Lord of the Rings\u201d \u2014 to build what they envisioned as a military-grade home security system for tech elites. The concept resonated in Bay Area circles, where crime had become a constant topic during and after the pandemic, despite San Francisco Police Department statistics showing property crime and homicide rates declining last year.<\/p>\n The startup raised $18 million from executives behind Flock Safety and Palantir, defense tech investors including 8VC, Abraham\u2019s startup lab Atomic, and Hartz\u2019s investment firm A*. It came out of stealth exactly a year ago, promising to launch in the first quarter of 2025 with a system combining AI-driven intelligence, advanced sensors like LiDAR and thermal imaging, and 24\/7 human monitoring by former military and law enforcement personnel.<\/p>\n But a year later, Sauron is still very much in development mode \u2014 a reality that its new CEO, Maxime \u201cMax\u201d Bouvat-Merlin, acknowledged candidly in a recent interview with TechCrunch.<\/p>\n After nearly nine years at Sonos, including a stint as chief product officer, Bouvat-Merlin took the helm of Sauron just last month. He\u2019s spending his first days on the job finalizing fundamental questions: which sensors to use, how exactly the deterrence system will work, and when the company can realistically get products into customers\u2019 homes.<\/p>\n The answer to that last question? Later in 2026 at the earliest \u2014 a significant delay from the original timeline.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re in the development phase,\u201d Bouvat-Merlin said. \u201cYou\u2019ll see a phased approach where we get our solution to market as a stepping stone. All the different components \u2014 our concierge service, our AI software running on servers, our smart cameras \u2014 are building blocks coming together in a plan we just put in place very recently.\u201d<\/p>\n Techcrunch event<\/p>\n \n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tSan Francisco<\/span> Still, Bouvat-Merlin sees striking parallels between Sauron and Sonos, which both target wealthy customers first, rely on word-of-mouth growth, and combine complex hardware with sophisticated software. \u201cI had lunch with John MacFarlane, the founder of Sonos, a few weeks ago,\u201d Bouvat-Merlin said. \u201cAll the topics he was thinking about when starting Sonos were exactly the same topics we\u2019re discussing at Sauron.\u201d<\/p>\n Both companies faced the same strategic questions: Start with super-premium customers or mass premium? Professional installation or DIY? Build everything in-house or partner with an ecosystem? \u201cWe might make different decisions, but the questions are very similar,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n The security problem <\/strong><\/p>\n Bouvat-Merlin says he was drawn to Sauron by both the mission and an opportunity to solve a real customer problem. \u201cSecuring people\u2019s homes is important, but I also like the deterrence aspect \u2014 changing people\u2019s minds before they make a bad decision and get into trouble,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n His research showed that market leaders in premium home security have small market shares and negative Net Promoter Scores. \u201cPeople are not happy with their solutions today,\u201d he said. \u201cThere are so many false positives that when law enforcement is called, they don\u2019t respond because they assume it\u2019s a false alarm.\u201d<\/p>\n The company is targeting customers \u201cwhere safety and security is a major concern\u201d \u2014 people like Hartz. The plan is to start with this premium segment, establish a reputation for supporting demanding clients, then expand to what Bouvat-Merlin calls \u201cmass premium.\u201d<\/p>\n The product (that\u2019s still taking shape)<\/strong><\/p>\n So what exactly is Sauron building? The answer is still evolving. The offering starts with camera pods containing multiple sensors \u2014 \u201c40 cameras and different types of sensors, potentially LiDAR and radar, potentially thermal,\u201d Bouvat-Merlin said. These pods connect to servers running machine learning software for computer vision, all linked to a 24\/7 concierge service staffed by former military and law enforcement personnel.<\/p>\n \u201cThose people understand patterns,\u201d he said. \u201cThey\u2019re good at helping us mature our machine learning solution and train our system to detect weird behaviors.\u201d<\/p>\n The deterrence system remains somewhat vague. Options being considered include loudspeakers, flashing lights, and other methods. But Bouvat-Merlin emphasized that deterrence should begin before someone enters a property, detecting when homes are being surveilled, noticing cars circling neighborhoods multiple times, and identifying threats at each stage.<\/p>\n \u201cThe more upfront we are with deterrence, the more we can convince people this is the wrong house to rob and the wrong decision to make,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n As for the drones mentioned when Sauron first took the wraps off its plans last year, Bouvat-Merlin declined to say much. \u201cThese are roadmap conversations. I don\u2019t want to go too deep at this point because there are so many things we could do, but we\u2019re such a small company,\u201d he said. He added that, bigger picture, the focus is on growing the ecosystem through partnerships rather than reinventing the wheel.<\/p>\n Timeline and business model<\/strong><\/p>\n With fewer than 40 employees, Sauron plans to hire just 10 to 12 more in 2026. The company will also begin working with early adopters later in 2026, with a Series A fundraise planned for mid-year.<\/p>\n \u201cRaising a Series A is not about raising because we have to \u2014 it\u2019s because we want to,\u201d Bouvat-Merlin said. \u201cI want to make sure we\u2019re showing progress and explaining how we\u2019ll use extra funds to accelerate growth, [including to] launch our first end-to-end product, drive customer adoption, and accelerate the roadmap.\u201d<\/p>\n
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\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tOctober 13-15, 2026<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n