Leading lock maker buys S.F. startup
August Home, a San Francisco smart doorlock and doorbell startup, is selling itself to Assa Abloy, a Swedish company that owns the well-known Yale doorlock line, the companies said Thursday.
Financial terms were not disclosed, but the deal opens the door for the startup to benefit from Assa Abloy’s international reach.
August Home will continue operating in its South of Market office after the deal closes, which is expected in the fourth quarter. Cofounder Jason Johnson will remain as August’s CEO.
“Our two companies have a shared vision for smart doors and making in-home delivery a reality,” Johnson wrote in a company blog post. “With these new resources and capabilities, we can serve the needs of our customers even better while simultaneously growing the unique culture that defines us.”
Johnson and famed Swiss industrial designer Yves Béhar co-founded August Home in 2012. The company’s flagship is a round, Internetconnected lock that can be opened and shut remotely using a mobile app.
The company, which also makes Internetconnected video doorbells, focuses on customers who like to install these types of products themselves.
Last month, August Home updated its lineup with a cheaper $149 lock, just as the do-it-yourself home security market began to get more competitive. Alphabet’s Nest has introduced new smart cameras, video doorbells and a security system, while Samsung partnered with professional monitoring firm ADT on a home security kit.
Meanwhile, August Home and Walmart are testing a service that uses a smart lock to open the door for a delivery person to leave an online-ordered package inside.
The Assa Abloy acquisition gives August Home some deep pockets to further develop its products and a broader distribution system, said Brad Russell, research director for connected home products for Parks Associates.
“They’ve made strong strides getting into retail and started building a dealer network in (the) past year, but now they can accelerate,” Russell said in an email.
Since launching, August Home has raised about $73 million in funding, including a $25 million round in July from investors that include Bessemer Venture Partners, Qualcomm Ventures, Comcast Ventures and Liberty Mutual Insurance. The company has about 100 employees.