In a move that will shore up its own lineup of smart-home products, Amazon has put up more than $1 billion to acquire Ring, a maker of connected video doorbells, cameras and security systems, Reuters reported.
The addition of Ring’s product set will expand Amazon’s business focused on Alexa-powered smart speakers, and enable the company to heat up competition with Google, which has its own A.I.-driven assistant and lineup of smart speakers and recently integrated Nest into the Google hardware team.
The move follows last December’s purchase of Blink, the smart-home startup that makes connected doorbells and award-winning, battery-powered security cameras.
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That retail competition also extends to Apple and its new HomePod smart speaker, and Netgear, which is spinning out Arlo, a unit that makes connected security cameras.
“Ring’s home security products and services have delighted customers since day one. We’re excited to work with this talented team and help them in their mission to keep homes safe and secure,” Amazon said in its statement to Reuters, without confirming the price it paid for Santa Monica-based Ring.
Founded in 2012, Ring has raised about $209.2 million, according to Crunchbase.
