SQL Technologies Corp. (NASDAQ: SKYX) is on a mission to make homes and buildings safe and smart through its highly disruptive technologies that enable easy and safe installation of electrical fixtures like lights and fans. The advanced-safe-smart platform technologies allow customers to control electrical fixtures using smartphones and virtual assistants. Founded by Rani Kohen and doing business as Sky Technologies, SQL is headquartered in Pompano Beach, Florida.
In an email interaction with AlphaSteet, Kohen, who is serving as executive chairman, spoke about SQL’s recent stock market debut, new trends in the home electricals market, and the company’s future plans.
Describe the innovation process behind the Sky Plug & Play receptacle relative to its conventional counterparts and talk about how you got to where you are today. What are the key aspects of your product line?
We arrived there as we understood the inherent risk from the billions of light fixtures globally – each of them installed while touching hazardous wires and standing on ladders with great risk for a long time. We thought that there must be a safer and faster way to install fixtures, so we came up with our Gen-1 Sky Plug & Play receptacle that enables you to safely install a light fixture or a ceiling fan in seconds, similar in function to how you plug electronics into a wall outlet.
Later, we decided to make our Gen-1 product smart, adding many smart sensors/features including scheduling, light dimming, changing colors, and much more – all controlled by a smartphone or by voice through, Siri, Google, Amazon Alexa, Samsung, and others. Then we developed our Gen-2 technology that is an all-in-one smart platform, integrating significantly more smart features, that enable homes and buildings to become smart and safe within just minutes.
Having set a new standard for safety, how do you see SQL’s smart platform evolving, in terms of improving user experience and expanding market share?
Our Gen-1 and Gen-2 platform products both have significant home safety aspects, while enhancing the all-around smart home lifestyle in a way that is simple to navigate for the average consumer. As both Gen-1 and Gen-2 products are platforms with vast “electronic real estate” given their location in the ceiling, it allows us to implement many sensors and features – which can be further improved through over-the-air updates.
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Following your IPO in February, what key goals do you hope to accomplish in the remainder of 2022?
Our goal in 2022 is to keep advancing in all key aspects including commercialization of our Gen-1 and Gen-2 smart products through standardization in business trade organizations (i.e. hotels, multi-family residential housing, etc.) and in the National Electric Code, where our signature SkyPlug ceiling receptacle has been added and continually validated.
Could you talk about your licensing & branding partnerships with GE, and what they bring the relationship with Sky Technologies both in the short- and long-term?
General Electric Company (NYSE: GE) is a well-known global brand that could be a great launch point for some of our unique product lines. They bring brand recognition, extensive experience in distribution, and excellent manufacturing/quality control. We are working closely with GE on several fronts, including on product launches and some potential licensing opportunities in the U.S. as well as internationally.
How should investors think about the regulatory impacts SkyPlug might drive? In addition, how do recent board appointments aid your efforts in the space?
The SKYX team believes – along with thought leaders in the electrical code & safety, insurance, architectural, and lodging industries – that installing fixtures using ladders and hazardous wires in a complex installation is the past, not the future. We are pleased that our product received regulatory recognition to that end, being voted into the NEC code book 10 times (across 10 segments).
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Our new advisory board members are key to our future as they bring leadership and experience that will enhance our platform product position in several segments including:
•Mark Early, former Head of the National Electrical Code (NEC), to spearhead U.S. and global safety code adoption.
•Paul Chernawsky, Founder of Endurance and former E&Y entrepreneur of the year, to drive a product mandate from insurance companies given the safety record of the product
•And finally, world-leading architect Bernard Zyscovich, to engage with single- and multi-family residential builders given our smart home technology suite and inherent safety features.