Amazon Expands Smart Home Repertoire with Acquisition of Ring
One of the largest companies in the world is taking a leap into the smart home world.
Amazon has announced their acquisition of Ring, a Californian company that makes video camera, doorbells and various other smart home technologies. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed, but Ring raised $109 million in early 2017 and has more than $209 million in total financing. Ring CEO James SIminoff valued the company above $1 billion in November 2017.
The deal is expected to be orchestrated similar to other recent acquisitions by Amazon, such as Twitch and Zappos. This means a few product and platform integrations, but for the most part, Ring will be able to operate as they have in the past.
“Ring is committed to our mission to reduce crime in neighborhoods by providing effective yet affordable home security tools to our neighbors that make a positive impact on our homes, our communities, and the world,” said a Ring spokesperson in a statement.
“We’ll be able to achieve even more by partnering with an inventive, customer-centric company like Amazon. We look forward to being a part of the Amazon team as we work toward our vision for safer neighborhoods.”
Amazon is on a mission to make their smart assistant Alexa a smart home hub. Alexa is offered through Amazon’s Echo devices as well as a smattering of other third-party products like the ecobee 4 smart thermostat. Ring actually has a current skill with Alexa that enables users to ask who is at the front door.
Ring is just one in a suite of smart home-centered companies, such as Nest. Ring offers doorbells that can stream video of who is at the door to a phone or tablet, along with video cameras and other products. Their goal is to help reduce crime in neighborhoods.
“Ring’s home security products and services have delighted customers since day one,” said an Amazon spokesperson in a statement. “We’re excited to work with this talented team and help them in their mission to keep homes safe and secure.”
Ring actually made their own acquisition in January, buying a company called Mr. Beams that focused on wifi-enabled LED motion-sensing lights.
This move by Amazon will look to consolidate all of the smart home offerings the company has and leverage them to work together. This could mean a Ring doorbell letting in an Amazon delivery through the e-commerce behemoth’s Key program.
Amazon acquired another smart home startup, Blink, in late 2017. Blink also makes video doorbells and wifi security cameras. At one point, Blink and Ring were considered rivals—now they both call Amazon home.