Working with Vodafone to implement Google’s G-Suite, HomyHub can work across offices, and the world.
Developed to make garage access easier, HomyHub lets users control their garage door using their smartphone. The idea first began back in co-founder Enzo’s home city of Venezuela, as a way to give secure and easy access to family and friends. But now Enzo and some members of the HomyHub team have moved to London, with the ambitious aim of getting into the global market.
Quality, security and peace of mind
HomyHub was established in 2016, born from the idea to simplify access to garages for homeowners and their families. Using a simple device that can be installed by anyone in a matter of minutes, HomyHub enables users to turn their smartphone into a remote control for their garage door.
“We developed an intelligent device with simple set-up that allows any mobile to act as a remote control for a garage,” says co-founder and operations manager Enzo Zamora. “This allows people to control, monitor and manage access to their garage wherever and whenever simply with their mobile.”
It’s clear HomyHub has big ideas, but as a start-up, this can come with several challenges; including how to stay in touch with the rest of the HomyHub team back in Madrid. Through the use of Vodafone and GooglesG Suite, HomyHub can work in the UK, the same way as they work anywhere in the world – keeping the team seamlessly connected. Although originally established in Madrid, with the help of fellow co-founders; Alejandro Nieto Perez, Alvaro Roman Bengoechea and Carlos Quijano, the team recently relocated to London, to pursue their dreams of developing the device and mobile application further. Chosen from 425 entrepreneurial businesses who applied for the Startupbootcamp accelerator programme, HomyHub was one of just nine companies selected for the final; giving them access to industry-focused mentors and investors to help rapidly scale the business.
“We develop intelligent devices and this has a great complexity of elements, such as production, logistics and distribution,” says Enzo. “For that reason, we have always sought the support of the best people in those areas and that is one of the reasons why we are in London; one of the best ecosystems in Europe for hardware start-ups.”
With such a great opportunity, Enzo and his co-founders quickly moved to the UK. Now based in the IDEALondon offices, along with the other eight finalists, the HomyHub team needed to find a way to carry on working with their Spanish colleagues, as if they were still in Madrid. “For the development of our products, we have part of our team in London and part of our team in Madrid, but we need them both working continuously,” explains Enzo.
The perfect tool for the job
As a Vodafone Spain customer in Madrid, Enzo was quick to draw on the great experience working with the company, and asked them to provide Google’s G Suite for the business. Formerly known as Google Apps, G Suite has a whole host of features to help keep companies of any size connected, no matter where they are. These include Gmail, Google Calendar, Google Drive and Google Hangouts. “We use G Suite to maintain the connection and dynamism between the team in London, and the team in Madrid,” says Enzo. Enzo and the team can share and collaborate on documents, spreadsheets, and presentations across devices, as well as using real-time co-editing, to help get to the final version faster. “Google Drive is where we keep all of our information, documents and different types of files,” says Enzo. “We can work on them at the same time so we keep the dynamism that we want to achieve in our company. It also allows us to edit, share and send documents from any device, whether that’s a mobile, tablet, desktop computer, and most importantly, we can do this from anywhere, thanks to the cloud.” “Thanks to Vodafone and G Suite operating in
different countries, just like we do, we don’t have to change the way we work, or the way we want to continue to promote our business. There are no limits to what G Suite allows us to do.” Another important factor for HomyHub as their teams work across different countries, is roaming, which allows staff in both countries to stay in touch with each other. Vodafone also provided the start-up with invaluable assistance through their advice service. “We want to take our devices to millions of garages and to finally make access to garages simple, convenient and safe,” concludes Enzo.
“Vodafone take care of the set-up and support all of the solutions we need, and we only have to focus on HomyHub.”
Plug and play
Around the globe, our network reaches 184 countries.
We provide the underlying transport network, the virtual overlay, and the platform to prioritise everything.
