Nest Labs, the company known for reinventing the thermostat and recently the smoke detector, has been acquired by Google for $3.2 Billion. The deal is expected to close in a few months after the usual regulatory review.
Nest will continue to work independently from Google, even though both Co-Founders Tony Fadell and Matt Rogers now working for Google.
So there you have it, a company that build a smart thermostat and last year a smart smoke detector is now sold for $3.2 Billion. For some tech insiders this is not a surprise, since Google Ventures already invested tens of millions of dollars in Nest Labs over the last years.
Tony Fadell explains on Nest Blog that Google and Nest share the same vision about technology and with this deal Nest products will surely reach more customers around the world:
Google will help us fully realize our vision of the conscious home and allow us to change the world faster than we ever could if we continued to go it alone. We’ve had great momentum, but this is a rocket ship.
Google has the business resources, global scale and platform reach to accelerate Nest growth across hardware, software and services for the home globally. And our company visions are well aligned – we both believe in letting technology do the hard work behind the scenes so people can get on with the things that matter in life. Google is committed to helping Nest make a difference and together, we can help save more energy and keep people safe in their homes.
As I mention before, the good news is that Nest will continue to work independently from Google and that nothing will change inside the team:
We will continue to reimagine and reinvent the unloved products that proliferate in our homes, just as we have since we started. We are simply going to get our products into the hands of people around the world – faster.
What I love about Nest is creating, developing and designing products with an amazing team. That is what excites me to come into work each morning. I will remain in my role leading Nest and Matt will stay in his role as head of engineering. Nothing here changes.
I’m curious to see if this partnership will last because Tony Fadell proved himself years ago by leading the team that created two gadgets that forever changed the world: the iPod and the iPhone. If I were Sergey Brin or Larry Page I’d let Tony Fadell (re)design every single Google product.
