Latch, an NYC-based startup that makes keyless lock systems for apartments, raises $70M Series B led by Brookfield Ventures
Anthony Ha / TechCrunch :
Context & Ripple Effects
This 2018 Series B is the early-capital chapter of a story the coverage follows all the way through: Latch used rounds like this one to push its keyless-entry systems into multifamily buildings, then went on to a SPAC merger at a $1.56B valuation in 2021. The lead investor is notable — Brookfield Ventures brings an institutional backer whose interests sit close to the property owners Latch sells to.
The competitive field was also forming around this time: Level Home emerged from stealth months later with $71M and a different thesis, a $249 Level Lock that retrofits existing deadbolts rather than replacing the door's hardware stack.
First-order effects
- Latch gets the capital to scale installations of its keyless systems across apartment buildings, with Brookfield Ventures' lead signaling confidence from investors adjacent to commercial real estate.
Second-order effects
- Level Home's cheaper retrofit lock forces a build-vs-retrofit split in the market: landlords must choose between Latch's full-system install and a $249 bolt-on, pressuring Latch to justify its per-door economics.
Third-order effects
- The arc that followed — public listing via SPAC, then Ring founder Jamie Siminoff selling his startup to Latch and taking over as CEO — shows access-control consolidating around leadership and distribution changes rather than pure device competition, with property-manager relationships as the durable asset.
The trend: Apartment access is shifting from mechanical keys to venture-backed software platforms, where real-estate-aligned capital and distribution through property owners matter more than the lock itself.