Amazon buys startup Ring in $1 billion deal to run your home security

Amazon has reportedly agreed to acquire smart home company Ring for more than $1 billion, according to Reuters. Ring is best known for selling its connected doorbells, security cameras, and floodlights, while Amazon introduced its own line of smart home solutions last fall with the Amazon Cloud Cam and Amazon Key.

“Ring is committed to our mission to reduce crime in neighborhoods by providing effective yet affordable home security tools to our neighbors that make a positive impact on our homes, our communities, and the world,” a Ring spokesperson said in a statement. “We’ll be able to achieve even more by partnering with an inventive, customer-centric company like Amazon.”

Like many of Amazon’s previous acquisitions, Ring is expected to continue to operate under its own branding and integrate product features into core Amazon products — just as Whole Foods has begun selling 365-branded products on Amazon’s Prime delivery service, while Twitch and Audible run independently from Amazon.com.

“We’re excited to work with this talented team and help them in their mission to keep homes safe and secure,” an Amazon spokesperson tells The Verge. With the emphasis on security, it is likely that Amazon is buying Ring to integrate more home surveillance features onto its Echo line of smart speakers, or enhance its Cloud Cam product.

Meanwhile, Ring is responding to users on its Twitter page after news of the acquisition, noting that HomeKit support is expected to be forthcoming.

Amazon has previously shown interest in Ring last year when it invested in the smart home company via its Alexa Fund. This is also Amazon’s second smart home acquisition in three months; last December, the company acquired Blink, another smart doorbell company.