# Jerming Gu

> Jerming Gu is the Taiwanese founder and CEO of CANDY HOUSE, the company behind SESAME, the smart lock that clamps onto an existing deadbolt and turns a smartphone into a key. He started the company as a Stanford mechanical engineering master's student in 2014 with co-founder Jongho Shin, then turned a 3D-printed dorm-room prototype into a Kickstarter phenomenon that raised roughly $1.4 million in 2015. After a decade building a dominant smart-lock business in Japan - including funding from ITOCHU and a strategic alliance with lock maker MIWA - he relaunched CANDY HOUSE in the US and Canada in 2025 with a lineup spanning SESAME 5, face recognition, palm-vein biometrics and Matter-compatible hubs.

- **Role:** Founder and CEO at CANDY HOUSE
- **Organizations:** CANDY HOUSE, Inc., CANDY HOUSE JAPAN
- **From:** Taiwan
- **Nationality:** Taiwanese
- **Education:** Master's candidate, Mechanical Engineering, Stanford University, National Taiwan University
- **Known for:** Raised about $1.4 million on Kickstarter for SESAME, one of the platform's most successful smart-lock campaigns in 2015., Reached the campaign funding goal in roughly nine hours., Designed SESAME with a five-patent mechanism that syncs lock movement with the phone for precise angle control and fits most deadbolts.

## Career timeline

- **2014** — Co-founds CANDY HOUSE in summer 2014 with Stanford computer science master's student Jongho Shin while living in a dorm.
- **2015** — Launches SESAME on Kickstarter on February 25; hits funding goal in about nine hours and raises roughly $1.4 million over two months.
- **2017** — Establishes CANDY HOUSE JAPAN in Tokyo.
- **2022** — Raises about 600 million yen from ITOCHU Corporation and others.
- **2024** — Forms a strategic alliance with lock manufacturer MIWA and raises roughly 350 million yen.
- **2025** — Relaunches CANDY HOUSE in the US and Canada after ten years, with SESAME 5, biometric Face products and Matter-compatible hubs.

## Achievements

- Raised about $1.4 million on Kickstarter for SESAME, one of the platform's most successful smart-lock campaigns in 2015.
- Reached the campaign funding goal in roughly nine hours.
- Designed SESAME with a five-patent mechanism that syncs lock movement with the phone for precise angle control and fits most deadbolts.
- Built CANDY HOUSE into a leading smart-lock brand in Japan.
- Secured investment from ITOCHU Corporation and a strategic alliance with century-old lock maker MIWA.
- Engineered the SesameOS software platform (SesameOS 3) powering the device ecosystem.

## Latest updates

- **2025-01** — CANDY HOUSE returned to the US and Canada markets after a decade focused on Japan.
- **2024-11** — Expanded the SESAME ecosystem with new devices; the lineup spans SESAME 5/5 Pro, Face Pro, Touch and Hub 3 with Matter support.

## Links

- Website: https://candyhouse.co
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jerming/
- Twitter/X: https://twitter.com/candyhouse_Inc
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/jermingg/

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Profile page: https://yespress.io/jerming-gu
Published by YesPress — https://yespress.io
Last updated: 2026-06-11