Google's Nest buys connected camera

Sarah DrakeContributor- Silicon Valley Business Journal

Google Inc.-owned Nest Labs bought Dropcam for $555 million in cash, a few weeks after reports surfaced about its interest in the home surveillance camera maker, according to TechCrunch.

Dropcam joins Google's growing suite of smart home products, which started with Nest, as a potential security feature.

Nest head of engineering Matt Rogers wrote in a blog post announcing the deal that Dropcam will be incorporated into how Nest does business, including how it handles customer privacy.

'Like Nest customer data, Dropcam will come under Nest's privacy policy, which explains that data won't be shared with anyone (including Google) without a customer's permission,' he wrote. 'Nest has a paid-for business model and ads are not part of our strategy. In acquiring Dropcam, we'll apply that same policy to Dropcam too.'

Dropcam backers include Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, Accel Partners and Menlo Ventures, and it has raised about $48 million.

Internet and advertising company Google acquired Nest in its second-largest purchase earlier this year for $3.2 billion for a push into the smart home automation market.

Companies: GOOG

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