Open Core Ventures (OCV) is proud to announce the launch of Selora Homes, built on the open source project Home Assistant, the most widely used open source smart home system. Selora Homes is a smart home system that combines extensive device compatibility with professional installation and support. Selora Homes offers the best of both worlds: open-source flexibility with over 2,000 device integrations, backed by expert installation and personalized setup for a truly unified smart home experience.
Founder and CTO Philippe Lafoucrière brings over two decades of entrepreneurial and engineering experience to the smart home automation space. A serial founder since university, Philippe started Gemnasium in 2011—a pioneering dependency scanning company in the software supply chain industry—which was later acquired by GitLab in 2018. As a Distinguished Engineer at GitLab for seven years, Philippe worked closely with OCV’s founder and general partner, Sid Sijbrandij, an experience that profoundly shaped his approach to building transparent and vision-driven open core companies.
Philippe envisions a future where Selora Homes is the standard for home and building automation. “Software is eating the world, and that includes homes, too. Every home will be a smart home in the future—it's not a question of if, but when,” said Philippe. “My vision is that Selora becomes the automation and monitoring go-to solution for not just homes, but for all buildings—institutional, commercial, and industrial.”
Bucking proprietary lock-in
Smart home solutions like Control4, Crestron, or Savant force you to choose between reliability and flexibility. They provide a professional installation experience, but trap users in their ecosystem with expensive hardware, limited integrations, and dependency on certified dealers for every change. Mainstream platforms like Apple Home, Alexa, and Google Home offer a middle ground—easier setup than professional systems and better integration than before—but still lock users into their respective ecosystems with limited device compatibility, basic automation capabilities, and reliance on cloud services.
These closed platforms can hold customers hostage with restrictive licensing and costly maintenance requirements. Even consumer-friendly options like Apple Home require HomeKit-certified devices and offer only simple automations, while Google Home pushes users toward Google's ecosystem with similarly constrained automation rules. Neither platform gives users meaningful access to their own historical data or the ability to create complex, multi-condition automations.
Meanwhile, free and open source solutions like Home Assistant offer flexibility and support for over 2,000 integrations across every smart home protocol imaginable. There’s little incentive for customers to stay locked in with a single ecosystem when more smart device companies are providing open firmwares and embracing the “Works with Home Assistant” label, according to Philippe. “The power of Home Assistant is that it works with almost everything,” said Philippe. “This means homeowners can use a single application to manage all of their devices instead of scattered apps for each device brand.”
However, setting up DIY solutions like Home Assistant requires significant technical expertise. "When something stops working, homeowners have a steep curve to fix their problem,” said Philippe. “People don’t work on their home automation systems every day. It’s easy to quickly forget how and what you did, making troubleshooting later a headache.” While technical troubleshooting Home Assistant is part of the appeal for the technically inclined, it’s a huge hurdle for the average homeowner trying to make home automation simpler—a problem that worsens with scale.
Building the future of connected spaces
Selora Homes' open core approach brings professional installation and support to Home Assistant's robust open source foundation. “We want to make smart simple,” said Philippe.
For homeowners, the platform will deliver professional peace of mind through 24/7 monitoring, expert technical support, and guaranteed response times. Features like secure remote support, continuous security monitoring, and automated security updates ensure reliability. Automatic backups with quick recovery and optional High Availability configurations will ensure zero downtime.
For professional installers, Selora Homes will provide a comprehensive business management suite including centralized customer dashboards, team collaboration tools with role-based access, professional ticketing systems with SLA tracking, and direct Home Assistant technical support. The platform offers secure remote access through just-in-time tools like Tailscale for troubleshooting, proactive monitoring, and alerting for all installations, and managed updates with rollback capabilities. These features enable installers to scale their operations while maintaining high service levels.
Beyond operational tools, installers can join the Selora Homes Network, a marketplace where homeowners can discover and connect with certified professionals in their area. This means installers not only streamline their existing business but also gain access to new customer leads, expanding their reach without additional marketing costs. As part of our installer network, professionals benefit from increased visibility while homeowners get vetted, qualified experts who understand the platform.
Strengthening the open source foundation
Building on open source Home Assistant ensures customers avoid vendor lock-in and can reliabily use a wide variety of devices. “Home Assistant’s open source automation framework is changing this smart home market,” said Philippe. “There’s already more than two thousand integrations, and you can create an integration for pretty much anything that you might think of. If your device has a network connection or is available through an API, you can integrate that with Home Assistant.”
Philippe's approach to building Selora Homes reflects a deep commitment to strengthening rather than fragmenting the Home Assistant ecosystem. "That means contributing back to Home Assistant whenever we can. “It’s the foundation of our offering, and we want to be good players in the market and make sure that Home Assistant is getting all the benefits from the changes that we're going to make," he said.
This philosophy stems from Philippe's belief that open source represents a fundamentally better way to build technology. “Our goal is to make Home Assistant usable to customers who know nothing about Home Assistant,” said Philippe. "The foundation is free and open source, but we’re building an out-of-the-box solution for people who probably wouldn’t use Home Assistant on their own.”
Now in private beta
Selora Homes is now inviting early adopters to join our private beta program. We're looking for homeowners who want professional-grade smart home automation without the complexity, and installers ready to grow their business with our platform. Selected participants will get early access to the platform, direct input on feature development, and exclusive pricing when we launch. Whether you're frustrated with your current smart home limitations or you're an installer looking to scale your operations, we want to hear from you. Register for early access and help us shape the future of connected homes. Space is limited as we carefully onboard users to ensure the highest quality experience.