MANCHESTER, NH – Gray Chynoweth is happy to field a call about his new venture, as CEO of Minim Inc., another home-grown Manchester game-changing industry founded by Jeremy Hitchcock that on Monday completed a merger with Zoom Telephonics.
What home security and connectivity means to Chynoweth in the context of Minim may be different from what the average consumer understands about it all. But one thing we can all relate to, he says, is the need for a home network that works when we need it to, and that provides some sense of security in a pandemic world that has left us all feeling a bit insecure.
“We’re all stuck with these challenges, we’re all stuck working or teaching or learning from home, and the number of devices we have connected to Wi-Fi networks is growing dramatically – it’s not just computers,” says Chynoweth. “It’s laptops, TVs, vacuums, garage door openers, you think of the number of devices you have connected, you quickly get to 20 or 30 or more.”
Minim provides hardware and software that powers the cable modems and other Internet access products under the Motorola brand that have become essential for the way we live and work, he explains.
“It used to be at the office you had someone take care of these things. That’s not how it is today. “You need to make it easy, safe and simple; that’s where we come in. We deliver a hardware and software solution,” Chynoweth says.
When asked about how consumers will benefit from Minim’s innovation, he points to the Motorola Whole Home Mesh WiFi System as seen on Amazon.com.
“Go to Amazon and buy one of our routers with modem-managed software,” he says, noting its capacity for speed and connectivity, as well as the “Moto-manage” app allowing users to monitor and maintain Wi-Fi performance.
“This has Minim software, so you can see what is connecting on your home network and no device is doing things it shouldn’t,” making a person’s connected home a secure one, including parental controls.
With the merger complete, the next phase will be rapid innovation. It’s a lot of work, but likely the most fun part for Chynoweth and Hitchcock, who met in the early 2000s through the Chamber’s Leadership Greater Manchester program, and went on to scale a little start-up together called Dyn that was eventually acquired by Oracle, and which helped establish the city’s “silicon millyard” status.
“We both sat in the back of the bus – I was with Sheehan & Phinney at the time, and Jeremy was CEO of Dyn. We were riding in the back of the bus on the first day of Leadership Greater Manchester as Syl Dupuis and John Clayton were giving us a tour of the city,” Chynoweth recalls.
Although Chynoweth says he followed his father’s footsteps to a career in law, connecting with Hitchcock provided his passion for technology a clearer path forward.
“I was Microsoft-certified in high school and have always been a nerd, and developed websites in college,” he says.
Together, along with the rest of the Minim leadership team – which includes Sean Doherty, CFO; Nicole Zheng, CMO; and Alec Rooney, CTO – and with five new board members, including Liz Hitchcock, Principal at Orbit Group, Chynoweth sees growth in the immediate future here in Manchester and beyond, building a company with a national and global footprint.
“Our goals are very ambitious. We believe we have the team and timing to build an incredibly important company that is based here in the northeast,” he says, much like Dyn, but already they have employees working around the country and the world, including manufacturing.
“Going from small to large is really at the core of what attracted me to working with Jeremy and Liz again. We had a chance at Dyn to not only have an impact on the world but on our community. I’m really excited at having a business of size and significance here. There are lots of smart people here to help us compete in the global marketplace,” Chynoweth says.
“A smaller percentage of our total employee base will be in Manchester, and we’re excited about it; it’s a great place to build a business and to operate. Our goal is to continue to make the NH technology ecosystem thrive with all the things we’re doing with time talent and treasure, that’s what we’re excited about,” he says.
Learn more: Minim.co
Click here for more information about the merger.
About Minim
Minim is the creator of innovative internet access products that dependably connect people to the information they need and the people they love. Headquartered in Manchester, NH, the company delivers smart software-driven communications products under the globally recognized Motorola® brand. Minim end-users benefit from a personalized and secure WiFi experience, leading to happy and safe homes where things just work. To learn more, visit https://www.minim.co.
