Google to Acquire Connected-Home Startup Nest for $3.2 Billion The tech giant expects its deal to buy popular smart-thermostat maker will close in the next few months.
By Jason Fell
Today is a big day for the founders of Nest Labs. Tech giant Google announced that it has agreed to buy the Palo Alto, Calif.-based creator of the Nest smart thermostat for $3.2 billion in cash.
In addition to the Nest smart thermostat, the company sells the Nest Protect, a smart smoke alarm.
Nest was founded in 2010 and launched the following year. The company had raised a total of $230 million in funding, with Google Ventures leading Nest's Series B round in August 2011 as well as its Series C in 2012.
"Nest's product line obviously caught the attention of Google and I'm betting that there's a lot of cool stuff we could do together, but nothing to share today," Nest co-founder Matt Rogers said on the Nest blog.
Nest says it has more than 300 employees in three countrie,s as well as a network of more than 25,000 certified professionals who help install Nest in the U.S. and Canada.
"This decision wasn't made on a whim," Nest co-founder and chief executive Tony Fadell wrote in a separate blog post. "I know that joining Google will be an easy transition because we're partnering with a company that gets what we do and who we are at Nest - and wants us to stay that way."
Nest will continue to operate under Fadell and with its own distinct brand identity, Google said. The deal is expected to close in the next few months but, of course, is subject to customary closing conditions.
Related: The Connected Home: A Huge Opportunity But Slow to Catch On
