Amazon has invested in Californian home design and prefabrication company Plant Prefab, with plans to integrate its suite of voice-controlled Alexa devices into affordable easy-to-build houses.
Rialto-based Plant Prefab announced that it has received funding from Amazon's Alexa Fund, which was established to support projects that innovate in voice-enabled technology, on 25 September 2018.

Amazon recently expanded its range of Alexa-enabled devices to include cameras, speakers, security systems and microwaves, all prompted by a smart assistant called Alexa. It will now work with Plant Prefab to integrate similar smart technologies into its residences.
"Voice has emerged as a delightful technology in the home, and there are now more than 20,000 Alexa­ compatible smart home devices from 3,500 different brands," said Alexa Fund's Paul Bernard in a statement.
"Plant Prefab is a leader in home design and an emerging, innovative player in home manufacturing," he added. "We're thrilled to support them as they make sustainable, connected homes more accessible to customers and developers."
Plant Prefab uses a patented prefabrication method to build affordable single and multi-family homes for dense and expanding US cities, with the aim to reduce cost and construction time, wasted energy and air pollution. It bills itself as the "first prefabricated home factory in the nation dedicated to sustainable construction, materials, processes and operatio...