Ring (company)

Ring

The Ring video doorbell, mounted next to the front door of a house
Type	Subsidiary
Predecessor	Bot Home Automation
Founded	2012 (2012) (as Doorbot)
Founder	Jamie Siminoff
Headquarters	Santa Monica, California, U.S.
Products	Ring Security System Ring Video Doorbell Ring Video Doorbell Pro Ring Video Doorbell Elite Ring Floodlight Cam Ring Spotlight Camera Ring Chime Cloud Recording
Owner	Amazon (2018-present)
Number of employees	1,300 (2018)[1]
Website	ring.com/

Ring (formerly Doorbot) is a global home security company owned by Amazon.^[2] Ring manufactures a range of home security products that incorporate outdoor motion based cameras and doorbells, such as the Ring Video Doorbell, that was featured on ABC's Shark Tank in 2013.^[2] Ring Video Doorbell is a smart doorbell device that allows users to monitor and operate their front, back and garage doors remotely.^[3][4] When the doorbell is pressed, the Ring application begins a VOIP video call to a connected device, so that the owner can see and speak to visitors.^[5][6][7][8]

Ring's secondary office, called Ring Ukraine, is located in Kyiv. It includes a research lab and a client support center, and has its own website.^[9]

History

From an early age, Ring founder Jamie Siminoff was interested in engineering and entrepreneurship: his father co-owned a plant forging steel pipes for oil refineries and, using his father’s tools, Siminoff manufactured humane mouse traps, heated blankets and remote-controlled cars after school.^[2] After attending Babson College and launching and selling two companies, Siminoff conceptualized a company called Doorbot, which would eventually become Ring, understanding his home safety was compromised because he could not hear the front doorbell from his garage.^[10][11] Siminoff modernized his doorbell by adding Internet connectivity, a high-definition camera and a motion detector to enable him to control the sensor’s direction.^[2] In 2012, Siminoff founded Ring and in 2013 released the first version of his product.^[12] Ring was bought by Amazon in February 2018.^[13][14]

ABC's Shark Tank

In 2013, Siminoff went on ABC’s Shark Tank, asking for $700,000 for his company, at the time called DoorBot, that he estimated was worth $7 million.^[15] Kevin O’Leary made an offer as a potential investor that Siminoff declined.^[11] The experience being on Shark Tank helped Siminoff raise the profile of the company. He rebranded and got $5 million in additional sales.^[11]

Funding Rounds

Doorbot was crowdfunded via Christie Street, and raised US$364k, more than the $250k requested.^{[16] [17]} Since then, the company has raised more than $200 million in investments and counts Kleiner Perkins Caufield Byers, Qualcomm Ventures, Goldman Sachs, DFJ Growth and Sir Richard Branson—founder of Virgin Group—as prominent investors.^{[18][19][20][12]}

Amazon agreed to acquire Ring,^[21] for somewhere between $1.2 billion and $1.8 billion in February 2018.^[14] Reuters values the deal to be worth over $1 billion.^[22]

Products and Key Releases

In 2015, Ring released the Stick-Up Cam which incorporated the same features as the doorbell but without the actual doorbell button. In 2016, the Ring Floodlight Cam was introduced which incorporated two 1100 lumen LED floodlights to optimize security. In 2017, Ring launched a DIY home security system, Ring Protect, including an alarm keypad and motion sensors.^[23][24] That same year, Ring released its second version of the device, Ring Doorbell 2, with a rechargeable battery pack, night vision, a motion detector, speaker and microphone.^[25] Ring Neighborhoods is an additional security feature that helps non-video doorbell users monitor suspicious activity on their app.^[26] In July 2018, Ring launched an alarm security kit, which includes a keypad, siren, and motion sensors.^[27]

Home Security

In 2016, Ring partnered with Los Angeles Police Department and installed Ring Video Doorbells on 10 percent of homes in Wilshire Park, California. The LAPD’s data showed that there was a 55 percent decrease in break-ins within the first six months of the doorbells being installed.^[4][2] In addition to break-in prevention, Ring products have been cited as aiding the police in identifying perpetrators.^[28][29]

App and Retailers

The app for Ring doorbell is currently available on iOS, Android, and Windows 10 Mobile.^[30] An Alexa skill for the Amazon Echo Show and Fire TV also allow users to view video feeds from Ring devices.^[31] Ring is sold in over 16,000 big box retailers, including: Home Depot, Target and Best Buy.^[11][32]

References