u/NoviSense

Building smart home hardware that turns countertops, tables and desks into a smart controller, so the room stays clean and the interface lives where your hands already are.

Problem

Smart homes look worse than dumb ones. Remotes, buttons, clutter.

You spend real money on a kitchen, pick the slab, get the lighting right, and then it all gets covered in clutter. A remote on the counter. A second remote that went missing. A tablet on a stand. A plastic puck button stuck to the side of the cabinet with tape. A phone you have to unlock, open an app, and wait for it to connect, just to dim a light. Every one of those is a piece of gear sitting on a surface someone paid a lot to make beautiful.

And the controls that are within reach are the ugliest ones, because the good looking stuff always ends up somewhere inconvenient. You either accept the mess or you accept walking across the room.

What we're building

NoviSense Touch mounts underneath a finished surface and senses touch through up to 60mm of stone, quartz, glass, tile or wood or any non-metallic surfaces. It fits under a counter, an island, a table or a desk. Nothing is visible. No cutting, no drilling, no hole in the slab, no device on top of it. The surface stays exactly as designed. You tap the stone and the lights come on.

Control that's right where you're standing, and invisible. Nothing to lose, nothing to charge, nothing to unlock, nothing to look at.

Under the hood it's an ESP32-S3 with a driven shield capacitive front end and a guided calibration routine that adapts to whatever material it's sitting behind. Making that reliable across different substrates is the hard part, and it's what our provisional patent covers (15 claims, differentiated against the closest European prior art).

It's local first. Native Matter and MQTT, presenting as a multi button controller, so it works with Alexa, Google Home, Home Assistant and the rest of the ecosystem without a cloud dependency or a subscription.

Each unit gives you multiple touch zones on one surface and multiple triggers per zone, so a single install can run lights, scenes and whatever else is on the network, with added temperature and humidity sensor.

Business model

Two channels off the same product.

Consumer first: direct to consumer and crowdfunding, around $42USD fully loaded per unit against a $85USD retail target (on a very small quantity (100 units).

Then B2B, and this is where it gets interesting. The people already working on these surfaces are countertop fabricators, cabinet makers, kitchen and bath designers, custom furniture builders and millwork shops. They're touching the underside of the slab anyway, before it ever gets installed. Their whole business is how the finished room looks, and every gadget the client adds afterward undoes some of that work. For them this is a high margin add-on to a job already sold, a differentiator against every other shop quoting the same kitchen, and no new trade to coordinate. Volume pricing, a simple install kit, spec sheets and a dealer program, plus a showroom demo that sells itself because nobody can see where the control is. Longer term that channel scales into builders and developers doing units at a time.

Where we are

MVP, fully working hardware, validated 60mm sensing through certain materials, firmware running Matter and MQTT end to end, boards through layout, provisional patent filed, BC Ltd. incorporated, and a certification path mapped out with an accredited lab. Accepted into Spring Activator's impact accelerator cohort.

Team

I'm a Red Seal Electrical foreman by trade, so I'm the guy who installs this kind of thing for a living, now building the product I wanted on the job. Looking to bring on a go to market co-founder to own the commercial side. It is just me as a solo founder at the moment.

Happy to share the deck with angels and investors or anyone who would like to learn more, and glad to talk to anyone who has built or backed consumer hardware at this stage.

NoviSense Touch - Control Beyond The Surface

Turn your everyday surfaces into a smart controller that can control your home. A simple touch of your countertop, and simple hold on your desk can trigger scenes, turn on devices, and create the environment you desire.

I created this as a solo founder and with no previous experience, but am a red seal master electrical foreman by trade.

Check out the explanation video if your interest is even slightly piqued: https://youtu.be/zV\_7M0\_\_txE?si=d6PrY8Xs2t3fHSDz

Any feed back, thoughts on this device or applications, interest in investment or any thoughts at all are all welcomed. If you want to learn more you can dm me!

Have a wonderful day! And keep inventing!

NoviSense Touch - Control Beyond The Surface

Turn your everyday surfaces into a smart controller that can control your home. A simple touch of your countertop, and simple hold on your desk can trigger scenes, turn on devices, and create the environment you desire.

I created this as a solo founder and with no previous experience, but am a red seal master electrical foreman by trade.

Check out the explanation video if your interest is even slightly piqued: https://youtu.be/zV\_7M0\_\_txE

Any feed back, thoughts on this device or applications, interest in investment or any thoughts at all are all welcomed. If you want to learn more you can dm me!

Have a wonderful day!

Background: I'm an electrical foreman. I wanted a control that lives under a surface instead of a button or panel sitting on top of it, so I built a capacitive sensor assembly that mounts to the underside of a countertop, table, desk, or glass panel and turns that surface into the input. Nothing visible on top, and because it mounts underneath it stays accessible and serviceable.

The interesting engineering bits:

• Through-material capacitive sensing. On my prototypes it reliably registers a touch through up to ~60mm on some materials, including solid stone, quartz, wood, or glass. Material and thickness vary a lot, so each install runs a short guided calibration that sets material-adaptive thresholds.
• ESP32-S3 running the ESP-Matter SDK (Matter-over-WiFi). Touch zones present as a multi-button remote-style controller.
• Local-first by design. It speaks Matter and does MQTT auto-discovery for Home Assistant. No cloud account, no subscription.

Honest status: it's a validated prototype, not a shipping product just yet, and it isn't certified yet (Matter cert is a post-funding step for me).

Happy to get into the detail in the comments. Ill drop the landing page in the comments as well.

Fair warning up front: this is my own project.

Background: I'm an electrical foreman. I wanted a control that lives under a surface instead of a button or panel sitting on top of it, so I built a capacitive sensor that mounts to the underside of a countertop, table, desk, or glass panel and turns that surface into the input. Nothing visible on top, and because it mounts underneath it stays accessible and serviceable.

The interesting engineering bits:

• Through-material capacitive sensing. On my prototypes it reliably registers a touch through up to ~60mm on some materials, including solid stone, quartz, wood, or glass. Material and thickness vary a lot, so each install runs a short guided calibration that sets material-adaptive thresholds.
• ESP32-S3 running the ESP-Matter SDK (Matter-over-WiFi). Touch zones present as a multi-button remote-style controller.
• Local-first by design. It speaks Matter and does MQTT auto-discovery for Home Assistant. No cloud account, no subscription.

Honest status: it's a validated prototype, not a shipping product just yet, and it isn't certified yet (Matter cert is a post-funding step for me).

Happy to get into the detail in the comments. Ill drop the landing page in the comments as well.

I created this device that turns any surface into a smart home controller.

Background: I'm an electrical foreman. I wanted a control that lives under a surface instead of a button or panel sitting on top of it, so I built a capacitive sensor that mounts to the underside of a countertop, table, desk, or glass panel and turns that surface into the input. Nothing visible on top other than desired markers for location indication, and because it mounts underneath it stays accessible and serviceable.

The interesting engineering bits:

• Through-material capacitive sensing. On my prototypes it reliably registers a touch through up to ~60mm of solid stone, quartz, wood, or glass. Material and thickness vary a lot, so each install runs a short guided calibration that sets material-adaptive thresholds.
• ESP32-S3 running the ESP-Matter SDK (Matter-over-WiFi). Touch zones present as a multi-button remote-style controller.
• Local-first by design. It speaks Matter and does MQTT auto-discovery for Home Assistant. No cloud account, no subscription.

Honest status: it's a validated prototype, not a shipping product, and it isn't certified yet (Matter cert is a post-funding step for me).

I will drop the landing page in the comments if you want to take a look.

Heads up first: this is my own project, so consider this self-promo-esque. I'm posting it here specifically because you'll scrutinize the Matter side harder than anyone, and that's what I want.

I'm a foreman and master electrician in Canada with a finish-work background. I kept wanting controls that disappear into the surface instead of having clunky remotes or buttons that don't compliment the surface surrounding it, so I built a capacitive sensor that mounts to the underside of a surface - a countertop, a table, a desk, a glass panel, pretty much any non-metal surface - and turns that surface into the controller. Nothing visible on top, other than user desired markers or millwork, and because it mounts underneath it stays fully accessible and serviceable. On my prototypes it registers a touch through up to ~60mm through some materials.

On the Matter side:

• ESP32-S3, built on the ESP-Matter SDK, Matter-over-WiFi.
• Each touch zone maps to a button, so it presents as a multi-button remote-style controller (Generic Switch endpoints under the hood). Alexa picks it up cleanly as that kind of device.
• It also carries 3 LED-control endpoints ( that can be exposed through the surface if desired) and an SHTC3 temp/humidity endpoint.
• Has customizable audio feedback for every single touch/trigger.
• Commissions cleanly, and it does MQTT auto-discovery for the Home Assistant crowd too.

The main thing I'd like this sub's take on:

• Certification timing is kind of a guess for me. I'm not Matter certified yet - that's a post-funding step for me - so right now this is a DIY/uncertified Matter device. For anyone who's been through it: how early would you start the cert process relative to a hardware launch, and is there anything you wish you'd done before your first commissioning tests?

Otherwise, poke holes in it. Happy to get into any of the implementation detail in the comments. I'll drop the link for the landing page that explains in depth details and has a demo video in the comments a well.

I appreciate all feedback, comments, thoughts and insights!

Hey all - heads up right away that this is my own project, so this is a self-promo-adjacent post. I'm putting it here because you're the people most likely to find the holes in it, and I'd rather hear them now.

Background: I'm an electrical foreman. I've wired up a lot of nice homes - good millwork, tile, stone counters - and then watched a clunky remote or button get slapped on the surface at the very end. It always bugged me. So I built a switch that hides behind the finished surface instead of sitting on top of it.

It's a capacitive sensor that mounts on the back of the material, so there's nothing visible on the surface at all. On my prototypes it reliably registers a touch through up to ~60mm of drywall, tile, glass, wood and any non-metallic surface. You tap the material and it fires.

The part I figured this sub would care about most - it's local-first:

• Reports into Home Assistant over MQTT with auto-discovery, so entities show up on their own.
• Also speaks Matter.
• No cloud account required, no subscription, no app-in-the-middle. If your internet's down it still talks to your local broker / HA instance.

Honest caveats, because I'd rather you hear them from me than catch me on them:

• It is not ESPHome. It runs custom ESP-Matter firmware, and the HA hook is MQTT auto-discovery rather than the native ESPHome API.
• Still prototype stage - validated on the bench, not a shipping product.
• Through-material sensing needs a short guided calibration per install (material and thickness vary), which the device walks you through with audio prompts.
• I can't call it "Works with Home Assistant" - that's a formal certification I can only pursue later - so I'm describing the actual integration, not claiming the badge.

What I'd genuinely like feedback on:

• Would you put a no-moving-parts capacitive pad behind your wall in place of a physical switch? If not, what's the dealbreaker?
• Does the firmware choice (MQTT auto-discovery vs. ESPHome) matter to you as an HA user?
• Failure modes I should be stress-testing before I commit to a production run - false triggers, humidity, something heavy leaning against the wall, kids, pets, etc.

Happy to get into any of the technical detail in the comments. I'll drop a link to the build and waitlist in a comment rather than the post body so this stays about the feedback, not the sell.

Hey guys I posted a post not too long ago but should have been a little more specific. I am looking for a co-founder for my hardware smart home device startup. The first product is built already, and have more ideas and more coming. Need someone that is passionate about smart home tech, innovative design, and integration that is available to everyone.

I would prefer someone with a more "business" oriented personality but am open to almost anything. If you want to check out the smart home device, let me know and ill drop it below in a comment.

Hey everyone,

I’m an electrical foreman by trade, but have created a smart home device that turns any non conductive surface into a smart home controller for your home. I have taken it from concept all the way to full working prototype and loooking to possible start a kickstarter later this year.

This isnt my only idea preloaded as well I have other things in the works that will really make these hardware devices unique. If you share the passion for hardware, have more of a business mind and experience than I do. I’d love to chat about some opportunities and possible cofounders.

I am in Vancouver bc Canada so local is a plus!

If you want any more info about the device I’m an open book to share!

Here’s the r/hwstartups post with a co-founder ask woven in — and adding it actually strengthens the post, since this sub is full of exactly the commercially-minded hardware people you’d want, and “founder seeking co-founder” is a welcome, common post here.

Title: Solo-built a smart-home hardware product from scratch (I’m an electrician, not a startup guy) — heading to Kickstarter, looking for hard-won advice and maybe a co-founder.

Body:

Hey r/hwstartups — long-time reader, finally posting now that I have something real to show.

Background: I’m an electrical foreman by trade, not a startup person. I got frustrated that smart-home controls are either ugly plastic boxes or expensive installer-only panels, so I started building an alternative on my own bench. It became NoviSense Touch — a capacitive control that hides under a finished surface (counter, tile, glass, drywall, up to ~60mm). Tap the bare surface, the lights respond. Nothing visible. Matter-native, MQTT, runs fully local with no cloud.

I’ve taken it solo from breadboard to a genuinely working product: firmware, electronics, ISED/FCC cert path mapped, US provisional patent filed, landing page and demo done. Fully-loaded unit cost is around $46. I’m bootstrapped, low on capital, and planning a Kickstarter as the launch + validation step rather than chasing investment first.

Where I’d really value this community’s hard-won experience:

**•	Crowdfunding as a hardware launch:** for those who’ve run a campaign — what actually drove pledges, and what did you wish you’d done in the 6–8 weeks *before* launch? Pre-launch list-building feels like the whole game.  
**•	Self-fulfillment vs. 3PL at \~200-unit scale:** I’m leaning self-fulfill for the first run (Chit Chats / Stallion for cross-border). Sane, or a trap?  
**•	The capital gap:** bootstrapped founders — did you fund the first production run purely off the campaign, or did you need a bridge?  
**•	DFM reality:** anything that blindsided you going from working prototype to a manufacturable run?

And the bigger one: I’ve covered the technical side solo, but I know my gap is go-to-market — pre-launch growth, the crowdfunding campaign, D2C, distribution. I’m open to finding a co-founder who lives on that commercial side while I keep driving product and engineering. Ideally someone who’s taken a physical product to market before. I’m based in BC / the Lower Mainland, so a local partner would be a bonus (in-person counts for a lot when you’re choosing someone to build with for years), but I’m open to remote for the right person.

Happy to go deep on the engineering in return — the through-material capacitive sensing, the certification path, the firmware. I’ve made plenty of mistakes worth saving someone else from.

Hey all- trying to figure out whether an accelerator is the right thing for where I’m at and could use perspective from those who have been through one.

Quick context: I’m a first-time founder from a trades background (electrician), building a smart-home hardware product solo. It’s a touch control that hides under finished surfaces — counters, tile, glass, drywall — so there’s no visible device. Matter-native, runs local, patent pending, heading toward a Kickstarter this year. I’ve handled everything myself until this point; it’s the company-building side where I’m least sure I’m doing things right.

What I’m trying to work out:

For hardware specifically, did an accelerator actually move the needle, or is the value mostly software-flavored (network, fundraising) and less useful for a physical-product, crowdfunding-first path?

Is it worth applying pre-launch / pre-revenue, or do you get far more out of it once you have traction to build on?

Which programs are genuinely hardware-friendly? A lot seem built around SaaS metrics that don’t map cleanly to a unit-economics, manufacturing-heavy product.

For a solo founder, does the cohort/mentor structure justify the equity and time, or would that energy be better spent just shipping?

I’m Canada-based (BC), so any take on Canadian or remote-friendly programs is a bonus, but I’m mostly after the honest “here’s what it was actually worth” read. Happy to share what the hardware/cert grind has looked like if that’s useful to anyone going the physical-product route.

Hey r/Founder — most posts here are software, so figured a hardware perspective might be useful.

My background isn’t startups. I’m an electrical foreman who got frustrated that smart-home controls are either ugly plastic boxes or expensive installer-only panels, so I started building an alternative on my own bench: a touch control that hides under a finished surface — counter, tabletop, drywall, tile, glass. Tap the bare surface, the light or scene responds. Nothing visible. It’s Matter-native and runs fully local.

I’ve taken it solo from breadboard to a real, certified product (patent pending), and I’m heading toward a Kickstarter this year. The honest part — what’s been hard as a first-time, non-traditional founder:

The engineering wasn’t the bottleneck; everything around it was. Sourcing, fulfillment decisions, and figuring out what “go-to-market” even means.

Building an audience from zero with no following and no network is the thing I’m least sure I’m doing right.

Knowing when it’s “ready” enough to launch vs. polishing forever — still wrestling with it.

A few things I’d genuinely value this group’s take on:

**•**	For hardware specifically, did pre-launch list-building actually convert for you, or was the launch itself where traction came from?  
**•**	As a solo founder, what did you wish you’d outsourced earlier instead of grinding through yourself?  
**•**	How did you decide the line between “validated enough to commit money” and “still guessing”?

Happy to talk more about this product I created. What’s everyone else building?

Hey everyone,

I have built a hardware smart home device that turns any non metal surface into a smart home controller for your home through matter or mqtt.

Aka just touch the surface (granite, wood table, stone etc) and control your home directly from that surface.

Looking for some people that might be interested in joining me in this venture to truly build something amazing stuff as, there are quite a few more ideas preloaded.