Amazon also appears to be making a deeper commitment to the smart home concept.
Ecobee, a Toronto, Canada-based smart thermostat company, announced on April 7 that it has raised $62 million (about 6.6 billion yen) from the Alexa Fund, an investment fund led by Amazon.
The fundraising comes just one week after Amazon acquired doorbell maker Ring for $1 billion. It is also reported that the "locking out" of Nest thermostats from Amazon, which were reabsorbed by Google, is partially related to this funding.
Ecobee, a smart thermostat company, raises 6.6 billion from Amazon Alexa Fund
Original text.Amazon is backing Ecobee, a smart thermostat company, just days after buying RingYou can check it at
In Japan, it is common practice to manage air conditioning equipment such as air conditioners separately for each device. In contrast, in Europe and the U.S., it is common practice to control the temperature throughout the entire house, and the thermostat (temperature control device) serves as the hub of this system. The reason to invest in a thermostat is because Amazon Echo
/Alexa is considered to be the hub of the smart home concept.
Amazon/Google are the undisputed winners of the "platform business. The fact that these two companies have chosen the smart home (the living environment of each household) as their next platform naturally indicates that they have some kind of winning potential, but I feel that it is still unclear where the smartness that can be achieved by simply being able to control hardware lies, and how much freedom from housework and childcare will be achieved. I feel that there is still a lot of uncertainty about how much freedom it will provide from housework and childcare.
Personally, I would be happy if the system would automatically adjust to the most comfortable room temperature and air environment, no matter how hot or cold it is outside. It's not smart to come home and wait for the air conditioning to adjust.
