Kansas City, Kansas based, Elevated Electronics is one of fifteen smart-home design firms that have merged to create Bravas LLC, an integrator of electronic lifestyle technologies into custom-built “intelligent spaces," now headquartered in Overland Park, Kansas.
Presidio Investors launched the $75 million private equity investment merging a national network of luxury technology integrators, which will now operate as one brand.
Bravas works nationally with architects, builders, remodelers, interior designers and successful owners of one or more properties, using lighting, shading, climate, entertainment, smart home, voice, wellness, security, surveillance, networking, energy, power, and other technologies, to transform how custom homes and offices are designed, organized and operated.
“To have an investment platform, operating as one national brand, changes the way business is done in our industry,” said Ryan Anderson, owner of Elevated Electronics in Kansas City and chief executive officer of Bravas.
Bravas plans to use the funding to expand its network of trade partners, build new software and business systems, reinvent service and support, invest in talent, and expand the company with targeted acquisitions throughout the United States and Canada.
“We are stronger together, sharing local and national resources that shape our ability to accelerate growth and improve the homeowner experience,” said Anderson. “We will bring the industry’s best dealers into the Bravas family and continue to focus on the life-long local relationships we build with our customers.”
Bravas has locations in 13 states, annual revenues around $75 million, and a team of more than 285 professionals, including designers, engineers, installers, technicians and programmers that have earned hundreds of industry awards and certifications. In 2018, the independent companies completed more than 3,500 residential and commercial projects.
“Where the business of luxury technology integration is fragmented into smaller businesses operating only in local markets, Presidio is partnering with Bravas management and the initial fifteen mergers to create a clear national leader,” said Karl Schade, managing partner and founder of Presidio.
The companies uniting to create Bravas include: Audio Dimensions in Oklahoma City, OK., and Little Rock, AR., Audio Intersection in Atlanta, GA., Audio Video Hi-Fi Sales in Cherry Hill, NJ., Audio Video Innovations in Dallas, TX., Digital Interiors in Alpharetta, GA., Digitech Custom Audio and Video in Indianapolis, IN., Elevated Electronics in Overland Park, KS., Home Theater Technologies in Fort Worth, TX., magine Audio Video in Nashville, TN., J.J. Orion in Minneapolis, MN., and Austin, TX., SES Design Group in Houston, TX., SmartSystems in Dallas, TX., Spectrum Technology Integrators in Deerfield Beach, FL., Starr Systems Design in Baltimore, MD., The Homeworks Group in Pleasanton, CA., and San Francisco.
Owners of each business retain a major stake in Bravas. Prior to the merger, they have been working together as independents -- many of them members since 2015 of the BRAVAS Group Cooperative, founded and directed by industry veterans Paul Starkey and Steve Firszt of VITAL MGMT in St. Louis, MO.
“We look forward to working with Bravas as it continues to evolve from a group of collaborative independents into a major force in the custom integration luxury market,” said Starkey.