Amazon buys home theater router startup, Eero – TechCrunch

Amazon is expanding its smart home offerings in a big way. The company just announced its intention to acquire Bay Area-based network router startup, Eero. It's a pretty clear fit for the online store that it pushes to make Alexa a feature of the connected home.

The movement also makes sense for the five-year-old Eero, who, despite being early in the home router's game and pulling in some high-profile investors, has settled. This time last year, the company joined 30 employees – about one fifth of the workforce.

Amazon probably has the deep pockets, and the addition of Alexa to routers from Huawei and Netgear last year demonstrates that this category can be a viable one. It makes sense, as these deformation-expanding masks, such as Echo Dots, are designed to be plugged into any room in the home.

Amazon has picked up a number of high-profile home automation launches in recent years, including Ring and Blink, as it appears to launch its own Alexa smart home ecosystem. In many cases, Amazon has chosen to maintain the branding of launch signatures, which could be good for the future of the Eero name – even if the company does not have the same recognition as the Ring.

"We are incredibly impressed with the honest team and how quickly they invented a WiFi solution that allows connected devices to work," said Amazon SVP Dave Limp in a press release. "We have a common vision that the smart home experience can be even easier, and we are committed to continuing to innovate on behalf of our customers."

The agreement is still waiting for all standard regulatory approval. Details of the acquisition have not yet been disclosed.