About Us
Kirio is headquartered in Seattle, Washington. We are a team of engineers, technologists, designers, and home automation experts building a new kind of connected product — making it possible for homeowners to live in a 21st century home that’s more comfortable, personal, and efficient than ever before.
We believe that by creating a set of technologies to enhance our use of natural resources, protect our families, and reduce costs, we can learn from our habits to personalize the way we live in our homes, and at the same time enhance our comfort and convenience.
“There must be a better way.”
FRANCK ROUGIER, FOUNDER AND CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER
Kirio® began its development in 2015 when Founder, and then Chief Technology Officer, Franck Rougier, began experiencing difficulties maintaining proper humidity and comfort levels in his newly built, ultra-energy efficient home. After contacting the builder and extensive troubleshooting and analysis by original installation vendors, adjustments were made to several of the home’s operating systems. Still, comfort and control issues were inadequately resolved. Given this cumbersome and time consuming experience, Franck concluded, “There must be a better, more convenient and foolproof way!”
So, he immediately went to work investigating the operations and communication protocols of each of the various operating systems in his home. Using his extensive computer, engineering, and software expertise, Franck invented the Kirio “Base” home management, alpha-prototype. The Kirio base allowed Franck’s already highly efficient “green” home to become even more so, saving nearly 15% in energy costs. Through Franck’s intelligent design, Kirio is able to deliver increased comfort levels, greater convenience, and increased home security, with improved energy efficiency.
The Kirio base became today's Kirio Hub, a simple to use, multi-patent pending, active management system easily controlled from a computer, tablet or mobile phone. The breakthrough was accomplished without needing to change any of the already installed wired and wireless systems.
Kirio Team
Franck Rougier
Founder, Chief Executive Officer
Franck ran into some issues in his energy efficient house, sought a commercial product to solve them, and just couldn’t find a proper solution. Frustrated, he embarked on fixing the problem as a side project. The side project has blossomed into Kirio.
Pedro Silva
Chief Operating Officer
Pedro brings a wide set of management experiences spanning multiple industries, company sizes and maturity stages. He has an accomplished background in business operations and finance, most recently working as an executive at Amazon. He is focused on scaling and growing Kirio's operations in a structured and profitable fashion.
Mark Echelbarger
Builder Sales - Chairman of the Board
Mark brings decades of experience in the home construction and building management business. A former homebuilder himself, his business acumen and keen understanding of current construction trends is leading Kirio into an industry ripe for change.
Stephan Muntslag
Kirio Pro Master Trainer
Stephan is a Kirio Master Trainer and heads the special projects team. Using his expertise in connected systems and customer requirements, he designs and implements control solutions for Kirio.
Julian Ramos
Full-Stack Engineer
Julian is computer hardware engineer with a deep understanding of embedded, distributed, and secured computing. With his keen interest in green and sustainable technologies, Julian works on various core hardware systems and their firmware counterparts.
Farzad Eshaghi
Core Platform System Engineer
Farzad brings deep embedded systems, electronics and security expertise to the engineering team. His keen understanding of signal processing methodologies and communication protocols allow him to confidently direct our integration platform. In this role, Farzad is responsible for all hardware, firmware and integration drivers the Kirio platform provides.
Franck Rougier
Founder, Chief Executive Officer
Franck ran into some issues in his energy efficient house, sought a commercial product to solve them, and just couldn’t find a proper solution. Frustrated, he embarked on fixing the problem as a side project. The side project has blossomed into Kirio.
Pedro Silva
Chief Operating Officer
Pedro brings a wide set of management experiences spanning multiple industries, company sizes and maturity stages. He has an accomplished background in business operations and finance, most recently working as an executive at Amazon. He is focused on scaling and growing Kirio's operations in a structured and profitable fashion.
Mark Echelbarger
Builder Sales - Chairman of the Board
Mark brings decades of experience in the home construction and building management business. A former homebuilder himself, his business acumen and keen understanding of current construction trends is leading Kirio into an industry ripe for change.
Stephan Muntslag
Kirio Pro Master Trainer
Stephan is a Kirio Master Trainer and heads the special projects team. Using his expertise in connected systems and customer requirements, he designs and implements control solutions for Kirio.
Julian Ramos
Full-Stack Engineer
Julian is computer hardware engineer with a deep understanding of embedded, distributed, and secured computing. With his keen interest in green and sustainable technologies, Julian works on various core hardware systems and their firmware counterparts.
Farzad Eshaghi
Core Platform System Engineer
Farzad brings deep embedded systems, electronics and security expertise to the engineering team. His keen understanding of signal processing methodologies and communication protocols allow him to confidently direct our integration platform. In this role, Farzad is responsible for all hardware, firmware and integration drivers the Kirio platform provides.
Advisory Team
Tadashi Shiga
When the real-estate market crashed in 2007, Tadashi was convinced the future of homebuilding had to be focused on sustainability and efficiency. He is an Energy Star verifier and a HERS Rater. He brings a vast understanding of the builder market, and advises Kirio on the development of strong relationships and strategic partnerships.
Kurt Steck
Kurt brings a broad set of technology industry experience across multiple functions - business development, M&A, startup evaluation and growth, channel development, sales, product management, and marketing. Kurt loves innovative tech and has a passion for enabling growth through new business models.
Lauren Ko
Lauren brings a strong background in strategic marketing planning, operations, new media execution and product design. Currently, she is globally deploying Digital Menu Boards at a Fortune 100 company. She has immense experience in digital marketing which she gained at several interactive digital advertising agencies.
Tadashi Shiga
Builder Market Advisor
When the real-estate market crashed in 2007, Tadashi was convinced the future of homebuilding had to be focused on sustainability and efficiency. He is an Energy Star verifier and a HERS Rater. He brings a vast understanding of the builder market, and advises Kirio on the development of strong relationships and strategic partnerships.
Kurt Steck
Growth Advisor
Kurt brings a broad set of technology industry experience across multiple functions - business development, M&A, startup evaluation and growth, channel development, sales, product management, and marketing. Kurt loves innovative tech and has a passion for enabling growth through new business models.
Lauren Ko
Marketing Advisor
Lauren brings a strong background in strategic marketing planning, operations, new media execution and product design. Currently, she is globally deploying Digital Menu Boards at a Fortune 100 company. She has immense experience in digital marketing which she gained at several interactive digital advertising agencies.