The company, now called Brilliant NextGen, was acquired by two investment firms – Almeida Strategy Investments and Cullinan Holdings – in late July. (The sales price was not disclosed.) Earlier this month, they named Lisa Petrucci, Brilliant’s former vice president of business development and sales, as CEO. The online store went back online in the last week or so, and today, the company officially announced the acquisition.
Aside from the new name, it’s business as usual for Brilliant’s customers. “Customer service is up and running; there are no changes to the customer experience. edge Interviewed ahead of the announcement. However, during the transition period, customers will not be able to purchase products from the company’s website. Petrucci said that while the devices can be found at third-party stores like Amazon, Costco and Best Buy, going forward they will stop selling directly to consumers anywhere other than their website.
It’s part of the company’s new focus to sell primarily to professional builders, developers and custom integrators rather than individual homeowners. “We have private investors who invest in or own single-family communities and multi-family buildings; these are the people who come from the areas that I want to attract,” Petrucci said. “They bought the company because they thought they could use the product in their own investments.”
Petrucci also revealed that they are preparing to launch the next generation Core Controller, which co-founder and former CEO Aaron Emigh teased earlier this year. “We will start producing this improved system with four times the processing power and an AI processor for edge control,” she said. The new device will have the same form factor, faster chips and better screens. Petrucci said they are finalizing whether they will add any new connectivity features to the devices, but hope to release a new version in the coming months. The device currently operates over Wi-Fi. She has yet to reveal pricing details.
Petrucci said her focus is also on continuing to develop its integrations so the product can control more devices in the home. Smart home control devices need to work with as many smart home devices as possible. While the Brilliant is compatible with many products, including Ring, Nest, Sonos, Philips Hue, Amazon Alexa, and Samsung SmartThings, the list is far from exhaustive.
Emigh said this was a significant impediment to the company’s growth, which, along with issues such as tariffs and global supply chain pressures, caused the company to run out of cash earlier this year.
Today, Emigh, who is no longer involved with Brilliant, tells us edge He’s proud of Brilliant’s creation and excited about its future. “The reorganized Brilliant includes many team members from the original Brilliant who will build on the great work of the original team and continue to grow Brilliant,” he said. “From the perspective of our customers and partners, Brilliant is primarily Being owned by private equity investors rather than venture capital makes no difference and I’m glad Brilliant’s mission will continue!
