Ring LLC is a manufacturer of home security and smart home devices owned by Amazon. It manufactures a titular line of smart doorbells, home security cameras, and alarm systems. It also operates Neighbors, a social network that allows users to discuss local safety and security issues, and share footage captured with Ring products. Via Neighbors, Ring may also provide footage and data to law enforcement agencies to assist in investigations.
The company was first founded in the Fall of 2013 by Jamie Siminoff as the crowdfunded startup Doorbot; it was renamed Ring in the Fall of 2014, after which it began to receive equity investments. It was acquired by Amazon in 2018 for over $1.2 billion.
Ring's product lines have faced scrutiny over privacy issues; the Neighbors service has been criticized by civil rights advocacy groups as building a private surveillance network backed by law enforcement agencies. Various security vulnerabilities have also been discovered in Ring products.
History
As a startup (2013–2017) In November 2013, Ring was founded as Doorbot by Jamie Siminoff. Doorbot was crowdfunded via Christie Street, and raised 364,000, more than the $250,000 requested. Siminoff's team envisioned the product's concept as an "alarm system literally turned inside out" in comparison to other security systems, describing it as a "pre-crime" system. In 2013, Siminoff and Doorbot appeared on an episode of the reality series Shark Tank to seek a $700,000 investment in the company, which he estimated was worth $7 million. Kevin O'Leary made an offer as a potential investor, but Siminoff declined it. Siminoff estimated that the appearance led to $5 million in additional sales.
On September 26, 2014, the company was rebranded as Ring as it launched its second-generation hardware; Siminoff explained that the new name and updated hardware was more reflective of the company's positioning of the doorbell as a home security product.
In 2016, Shaquille O'Neal acquired an equity stake in Ring, and subsequently became a spokesperson in the company's marketing. The company raised over $200 million in investments from Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, Qualcomm Ventures, Goldman Sachs, DFJ Growth and Sir Richard Branson.
In 2017, ADT sued Ring for trade secret theft in the case of ADT vs. Mike Harris relating to Ring Alarm. Sales of the alarm product were preliminarily blocked by a judge in late 2017. The case ended up settling for an unconfirmed $25 million. With a reported burn rate of $10 to $12 million per month and incurred legal expenses, Ring needed to raise cash. The ADT settlement, however, spooked investors causing the CEO to seek a quick sale.
Siminoff's attitude towards Amazon changed overnight. In a November 2017 interview with the Ambient, when asked about Amazon Key, the CEO responded,"Amazon is both an investor in Ring as well as a strong partner, so we have a lot of respect there but, in this instance with what they've done, I was never a fan of how this was put together," he explains. "I don't believe the seal around the home should ever be breached by a third-party company. No matter how many cameras you have and how much control you have over it, I just don't think it's a good idea."
"To me it's backwards because Amazon is usually so thoughtful around scale and when you're doing like 50 million interactions a day, even if the smallest percentage – like 0.0001% goes wrong – that could be like five deaths a day!"According to emails between Jeff Bezos and other Amazon executives unearthed during a congressional investigation, Amazon began conducting due diligence to acquire Ring in November 2017.
Subsidiary of Amazon (2018–present) In February 2018, Ring was acquired by Amazon for an estimated value between $1.2 and $1.8 billion. Emails obtained by congress revealed that, despite Amazon executives' concerns about Ring's quality and security, Bezos valued Ring for its market share, not its technology. One email revealed that Amazon evaluated sales data before buying two of the top four wireless home security device manufacturers.
In May 2018, Ring launched the hyperlocal social network Neighbors, which is designed to allow users to anonymously discuss local safety and security issues, as well as share photos and videos captured with Ring products. The service also allows local police departments to post bulletins, and for them to request footage from users that may assist in investigations.
In September 2019, the House Judiciary Committee began investigating the acquisition of Ring, Blink, and Eero as part of an investigation into digital markets.