Vivint Smart Home announces $100 million investment
In its first round of venture capital funding, Vivint Smart Home, the Provo-based leading provider of smart home technology and services, announced a $100 million equity investment co-led by tech investor Peter Thiel and investment firm Solamere Capital.
The strategic investment will help fuel Vivint’s rapid growth and product innovation as it extends its preeminent position in the growing smart home market.
A venture capitalist and entrepreneur who co-founded PayPal, Thiel is known for backing transformational technology companies, and was the first outside investor in Facebook and is one of the largest shareholders of Airbnb.
“For Peter and Solamere to place their confidence in Vivint as the smart home leader is a huge validation of what we have built and where we are headed,” said Todd Pedersen, founder and CEO of Vivint Smart Home, in a press release. “The fact that they are investing in our future demonstrates their passion for our business and their vision for this industry. We look forward to working together to redefine the home experience.”
With more than 8,000 employees, more than seven million smart home devices installed in the past five years, and revenue of more than $650 million, Vivint is one of the largest and fastest-growing smart home companies in North America. The number of smart homes in North America will increase to 18.3 million by 2020, according to ABI Research, and in a study done by Strategy Analytics, it is estimated that the smart home market will reach $40 billion by 2020.
Vivint offers a custom platform with integrated smart home products, including smart door locks, thermostat, cameras, doorbell camera, cloud storage and an array of sensors. The company pairs its technology with in-home consultation, professional installation and support delivered by its Smart Home Pros, as well as 24-7 customer care and monitoring. In addition to its rapidly expanding product suite, Vivint has integrated leading smart home products into its Vivint Sky platform, including the Amazon Echo and the Nest Learning Thermostat.
Details on how this investment will fuel Vivint’s growth and products are unclear, and Vivint executives could not respond to Daily Herald’s request for comments on the specifics of the investment Wednesday.
