Google is acquiring Nest, the smart-home appliance maker that is behind the Nest Thermostat and the Nest Protect smoke detector, for a reported $3.2 billion in cash.
iPod co-creator Tony Fadell is the co-founder of the company alongside another former Apple employee, Matt Rogers. Nest tweeted that it will operate independent of Google.
Big news! @Google acquiring Nest to help fulfill our goal of reinventing unloved home products. Nest will stay Nest. http://t.co/0L8hNBhmYc — Nest (@nest) January 13, 2014
Larry Page, CEO of Google, said: "Nest's founders, Tony Fadell and Matt Rogers, have built a tremendous team that we are excited to welcome into the Google family. They’re already delivering amazing products you can buy right now--thermostats that save energy and smoke/CO alarms that can help keep your family safe. We are excited to bring great experiences to more homes in more countries and fulfill their dreams!"
According to Re/code, Nest has raised more than $80 million in venture funding and was scheduled to close another $150 million round soon.
Update: Nest has posted an article about what will happen to the company going forward, and perhaps most importantly, addressing what customer data will be shared with Google:
Will Nest customer data be shared with Google?
Our privacy policy clearly limits the use of customer information to providing and improving Nest’s products and services. We’ve always taken privacy seriously and this will not change.
Re/code reports that Google was the only serious bidder for Nest and Apple was not interested in the company.
