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SmartThings

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SmartThings Inc.
Company typeSubsidiary
IndustryHome automation
Founded2012 (2012)
Founders
  • Alex Hawkinson
  • Andrew Brooks
  • Jeff Hagins
  • Ben Edwards
  • James Stolp
  • Scott Vlaminck
  • Jesse O'Neill-Oine
Headquarters
Mountain View, California
,
United States
Areas served
Australia, Canada, Europe, New Zealand, United Kingdom, United States[1]
ParentSamsung Electronics
Websitewww.smartthings.com

SmartThings Inc. is an American home automation company headquartered in Mountain View, California with a software development center in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Founded in 2012, it focuses on the development of eponymous automation software and an associated array of client applications and cloud platforms for smart homes and the consumer Internet of Things.

Since August 2014 SmartThings has been a subsidiary of Samsung Electronics.[2]

SmartThings cites its platform as having 62 million active users, a number it claims increased 70% through 2019 and 2020.[3]

History

SmartThings was allegedly conceived by co-founder and once-CEO Alex Hawkinson in the winter of 2011. Hawkinson tells that his family's unoccupied mountain house in Colorado was extensively damaged by water pipes that first froze and subsequently burst resulting in some $80,000 worth of damage.[4][5][6][7][8] Hawkinson noted that he could have prevented the damages had he known what was happening inside the house.[8] Through 2011 and 2012, Hawkinson and his SmartThings co-founders worked to build a prototype of their desired solution to such problems.[8][9] That prototype would go on to form the basis of a successful Kickstarter campaign which the developers launched in September 2012 and that would go on to secure US$1.2 million in backing, making it the second largest, smart-home focussed crowdfunding project to date.[10][4]

Raising $3 million in a December 2012 seed funding round,[11][12] SmartThings would go on to commercially launch its products in August 2013 before raising a further 12.5 million in a Series A funding round in late 2013.[13] [14][9][15]

In August 2014, Samsung Electronics announced that it had reached an agreement to acquire SmartThings.[16][17] The financial terms of the deal were never publicly disclosed but were estimated as high as $200 million by some trade publications at the time.[18]

Products and services

Initially SmartThings produced a suite of custom hardware and software services, including smart home hubs and sensors. In June 2020, SmartThings' engineering head Mark Benson announced that SmartThings would pivot away from manufacturing its own hardware and instead focus on software. The company hopes to enlist other companies to manufacture and distribute SmartThings hardware.[3] In October 2020, SmartThings announced that Aeotec will take over its European hardware line.[19] In December 2020, Aeotec revealed that it would also manage the SmartThings hardware portfolio throughout Australia, Canada, the United Kingdom, and the United States.[1]

As of February 2021, SmartThings develops software and cloud services.[3][20]

References

  1. ^ a b Dykes, Daniel. "Aeotec builds upon its industry leading portfolio of smart home products through agreement with SmartThings". Aeotec. Retrieved 10 December 2020.
  2. ^ Tilley, Aaron. "Samsung Acquires SmartThings, A Fast-Growing Home Automation Startup". Forbes. Archived from the original on 30 December 2014. Retrieved 7 January 2015.
  3. ^ a b c Williams, Joe. "Why Samsung's SmartThings arm is pivoting entirely into software". Business Insider. Retrieved 10 December 2020.
  4. ^ a b Frizell, Sam. "This Startup is Trying to Create—and Control—the Internet of Your Home". Time. Archived from the original on 9 July 2014. Retrieved 10 July 2014.
  5. ^ Segall, Laurie. "SmartThings will let you run your world by smartphone". CNNMoney. Archived from the original on 2 August 2014. Retrieved 10 July 2014.
  6. ^ Thibodeau, Patrick. "SmartThings founder sees a limitless Internet of Things". Computerworld. Archived from the original on 7 July 2014. Retrieved 10 July 2014.
  7. ^ Mangalindan, JP. "A digital maestro for every object in the home". CNNMoney. Archived from the original on 31 May 2014. Retrieved 10 July 2014.
  8. ^ a b c Lee, Adriana. "SmartThings' Alex Hawkinson: 'We're Debugging How Your House Responds To You'". readwrite. Archived from the original on 19 July 2014. Retrieved 10 July 2014.
  9. ^ a b Toscana, Samantha. "Take A Tour Of THE Smartest Home In America (VIDEO)". HuffPost. Archived from the original on 10 July 2014. Retrieved 10 July 2014.
  10. ^ "SmartThings: Make Your World Smarter". KickStarter. Archived from the original on 14 July 2014. Retrieved 10 July 2014.
  11. ^ Lomas, Natasha. "SmartThings Closes $3M Seed Round, Led By First Round Capital, Launches Competition To Grow Community Of Smart Object Developers". TechCrunch. Archived from the original on 6 July 2014. Retrieved 10 July 2014.
  12. ^ Gannes, Liz. "SmartThings, a Kickstarter Hit, Raises $3M More From VCs and Angels". AllThingsD. Archived from the original on 7 July 2014. Retrieved 10 July 2014.
  13. ^ Goode, Lauren. "SmartThings, the "Internet of Things" Company That Connects the Gadgets in Your Home, Launches Its Own Store". AllThingsD. Archived from the original on 21 August 2014. Retrieved 10 July 2014.
  14. ^ Lawler, Ryan. "SmartThings Raises $12.5 Million From Greylock And Highland To Power The Internet Of Things". TechCrunch. Archived from the original on 14 July 2014. Retrieved 10 July 2014.
  15. ^ Anderson, Jake. "Kickstarter Hit Lands $12.5M From Silicon Valley". Twin Cities Business. Archived from the original on 21 August 2014. Retrieved 10 July 2014.
  16. ^ Don Clark (Aug 14, 2014). "Samsung reaches Deal to Buy Startup SmartThings". The Wall Street Journal. Archived from the original on 2014-08-17. Retrieved Aug 18, 2014.
  17. ^ "Samsung snaps up SmartThings, embracing Internet of Things". CNET. 14 August 2014. Archived from the original on 16 August 2014.
  18. ^ "SmartThings Acquired By Samsung For Around $200 Million". Techcrunch. 15 August 2014. Retrieved 10 December 2020.
  19. ^ "SmartThings and Aeotec – A Connected Family". SmartThiings. SmartThings, Inc. Retrieved 10 December 2020.
  20. ^ Higginbotham, Stacey. "SmartThings will kill legacy features to make a smarter home". Stacey on IoT. SKT Labs, LLC. Retrieved 10 December 2020.
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