Google raises the stakes on the home automation and monitoring market with its huge cash buy of startup Nest.

Dan Jones, Mobile Editor

January 13, 2014

1 Min Read
Google to Buy Nest for $3.2B

Google could be coming to a home near you soon with its $3.2 billion buyout of smart sensor startup Nest Labs.

Google (Nasdaq: GOOG) revealed Monday afternoon that it will pay $3.2 billion in cash for Nest, a Californian startup that sells a $249 WiFi-enabled "smart thermostat" and has just introduced a smoke detector. The deal is expected to close within a few months.

Nest already has ties to the search giant: Google's venture arm has been a key investor in the startup. Nest has raised $230 million in funding since its foundation in 2010. (See The Best-Funded Mobile Startups of 2013.)

Nest was founded by CEO Tony Fadell and VP of engineering Matt Rodgers. These Apple Inc. (Nasdaq: AAPL) alumni led the team that created earlier generations of iPhones and iPods and developed the iPod software, respectively.

The Nest buyout -- along with Google's efforts on driverless cars -- appears to indicate that the company isn't ready to cede the home automation and monitoring market to carriers like AT&T Inc. (NYSE: T) or the cable MSOs yet. In fact, the dashboard and the breakfast bar are becoming the new frontiers for a slew of mobile and technology companies. (See AT&T Clinches M2M Market Lead With GE Deal, Betting on Smart Homes, and CTIA: Digital Life Pays Off for AT&T.)

— Dan Jones, Mobile Editor, Light Reading

About the Author(s)

Dan Jones

Mobile Editor

Dan is to hats what Will.I.Am is to ridiculous eyewear. Fedora, trilby, tam-o-shanter -- all have graced the Jones pate during his career as the go-to purveyor of mobile essentials.

But hey, Dan is so much more than 4G maps and state-of-the-art headgear. Before joining the Light Reading team in 2002 he was an award-winning cult hit on Broadway (with four 'Toni' awards, two 'Emma' gongs and a 'Brian' to his name) with his one-man show, "Dan Sings the Show Tunes."

His perfectly crafted blogs, falling under the "Jonestown" banner, have been compared to the works of Chekhov. But only by Dan.

He lives in Brooklyn with cats.

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