Amazon’s latest acquisition of Eero marks a continued move towards an expansion of the smart home concept after purchasing video doorbell maker Ring last year for $1 billion.
Eero is a developer of wireless routers than can seamlessly integrate with a home through mesh networking. The goal of mesh networking is to allow for faster internet speeds–a technology that was once available to only office environments.
“We have a shared vision that the smart home experience can get even easier, and we’re committed to continue innovating on behalf of customers,” said Dave Limp, senior vice president of Amazon devices and services.
We’ve got some big news: https://t.co/V3pYeYkBY0. By joining the Amazon family, we’re excited to learn from and work closely with a team that is defining the future of the home, accelerate our mission, and bring eero systems to customers around the globe.
— eero (@geteero) February 11, 2019
Related: Analyst: Microsoft Has Potential to Catch up With Amazon’s Cloud
The terms of the acquisition were not disclosed, but Eero was valued at $251 million in a 2016 private financing round by Sand Hill Econometrics. The networking company was able to raise $100 million in startup capital from investors, such as Index Ventures, Initialized Capital and Menlo Ventures.
For Amazon, the acquisition made sense after admiring the company from a distance.
“We are incredibly impressed with the Eero team and how quickly they invented a WiFi solution that makes connected devices just work,” said Limp.
An Eero device is able to plug into a modem and allow for user customization based on the size or shape of the home. The company feels the concept of a smart home is what will be a key driver of consumer behavior in the foreseeable future.
“From the beginning, eero’s mission has been to make the technology in homes just work,” Nick Weaver, Eero’s chief executive and one of its founders, said in a statement. “We started with WiFi because it’s the foundation of the modern home.”
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