Charles Fraenkl, CEO of Smartfrog, will become the leader of the two companies. Canary’s Chief Marketing Officer Bob Stohrer will lead Canary’s operation, while its former CEO Adam Sager will step back to take an advisory role.
Europe-based IoT company Smartfrog announced that it is investing US$25 million alongside major existing investors in New York-based security camera startup Canary to take a controlling interest in the company and to accelerate its growth.
Charles Fraenkl, CEO of Smartfrog, will become the leader of the two companies. Canary’s Chief Marketing Officer Bob Stohrer will lead Canary’s operation, while its former CEO Adam Sager will step back to take an advisory role.
Smartfrog, founded in 2014, developed the Smartfrog Cam with a companion app and a video storage platform. It has offices in Germany, Switzerland and China. About 90% of its business focuses on direct sales of software as a service (SaaS).
Canary, on the other hand, has created several indoor security cameras for homes. Its business is built mostly on retail with over 10,000 points of sales in the U.S.
The combined company of Smartfrog and Canary will have both retail and direct sales power in the security camera market, with international market shares in the U.S. and Europe.
“Globally, the smart home security market is at an inflection point, and as the industry becomes increasingly competitive with some of the world’s largest technology companies, Smartfrog and Canary joining forces enables both companies to better compete globally,” a spokesperson for both companies told TechCrunch.
The joint force of Smartfrog and Canary will compete with Google-owned Nest, Amazon-owned Ring and Netgear’s Arlo.
Canary will continue to operate as an independent brand, according to the company. “We are very excited about the opportunities that derive from joining forces. Our businesses are extremely complementary and will enable us to scale the business faster globally,” said Stohrer.
Product Adopted:Residential Security