[ibimage==30530==Original==none==self==ibimage_align-center]
Boulder-based Revolv’s success has launched them into the big leagues, or at least their team. The whip-smart team will be joining Google’s Nest (the smart thermostat company), according to an announcement last Friday that the company was acquired. It’s big news in the world of energy, tech and the smart home and shows that Boulder is leading the way on innovative, smart technology.
Revolv made its mark by making the connected home a reality. Through their device and smartphone application, Revolv connects different, disparate technologies together. Essentially, it makes the “smart home” work easier for the consumer (in a crude analogy, think about life before the universal remote, but extend it out to all sorts of appliances in the home). Before Revolv, consumers were stuck monitoring each of their smart appliances individually, making the smart home seem more time-consuming than intelligent.
“We are not fans of yet another hub that people should have to worry about, Nest founder Matt Rodgers said in a news report. "It’s a great team, an unbelievable team. There’s a certain amount of expertise in home wireless communications that doesn’t exist outside of these 10 people in the world.”
That message fits with updates on the Boulder-based company website. Revolv is no longer taking any new orders for its Smart Home Automation Solution that had previously been sold on Amazon and in Home Depot. Current users should be fine, as the company assures existing customers on their website they will continue to provide support.
[ibimage==30531==Original==none==self==ibimage_align-right]
As for joining Nest, “We have been inspired by Nest since our foundation, and are thrilled to be part of the Nest family. Together, we’re going to create some amazing products and continue to unify the connected home as part of the Works with Nest program,” Revolv said on their website.
A Big Deal
The acquisition is a big deal for a couple of reasons.
First, Nest doesn’t yet have a totally integrated smart-home system, though the company is thought to have big ambitions (just look at its “works with Nest” lineup). Having products that all work seamlessly on one system is the key to higher consumer uptake, since monitoring and playing with each device adds an extra layer of complexity.
An integrated system allows a manufacturer to offer and sell more products. Revolv customers were likely to have up to 12 different smart-home applications after a few months of using the product, up from just 4 in their pre-Revolv world. Combining the smarts of the Boulder team with the reach of Nest and Google could produce some spectacular results. For now, the companies are staying rather mum over the whole deal.
Second, it shows that the talent pool – the really sought after folks – were found in Boulder. It’s good news for the growing tech scene and the Boulder-based company that graduated from the Techstars Boulder Accelerator. The company had previously raised over $7 million in funding.
